Midnight Pie

Fascinating Feathers

2012-01-15T16:00:00.002+08:00

I'm very lucky to come from a family full of creative, talented people. I've always been surrounded by arts and crafts and been encouraged to follow my imagination to wherever it may take me which is a truly beautiful thing that I know a lot of people don't get.

My multi-talented cousin Jess creates incredible artworks in a variety of media (check out her blog Here), as well as being one of the most stylish people I know. Seriously, every time I see her I think she looks like a movie star. She has recently been creating stunning fascinators and I was lucky enough to nab myself one of them when she was selling them a while back at the Outskirts Festival. Today was such a beautiful day (albeit super hot) that I decided create an outfit/make-up around my fabulous fascinator and take some photos featuring my purchase.

For any Perthites that may be reading, Jess will have a stall at the Laneway Night Markets that will be part of the upcoming Perth Fringe Festival. There will be over 45 stall holders each night, with all kinds of awesome things available, from food and drink to art and clothing. The markets will take place on Saturday 28th January, 5pm - 10pm and Sunday 29th January, 3pm - 8pm in Hook and Lock Lanes in Northbridge (the laneways running parallel to William Street from James to Aberdeen Streets). Look out for Jess at the 'All The Pretty Ones Are' stall in Lock Lane, on the Saturday.

Dress: Lemisee Australia
Necklace: Lovisa
Fascinator: Handmade by Jessica McCallum

Hands up if you're the slackest blogger ever

2012-01-09T21:36:00.000+08:00

*Sheepishly raises both hands*

Hi guys! Long time no blog! Happy Happy New Year - I hope there were fantastic Christmases and New Year celebrations all around! I'm so sorry it's been such a long time, over Christmas I kinda took a break from everything, work, internet and on a couple of extremely relaxing days, real clothes (I love a good PJ's day!). I also went through 3 hair colour changes in 2 weeks.

As it began, darkish orangey red

After some hardcore bleaching - I called this orange sherbert hair

Fudge 'Goldfinger' - kinda cool but a tad too yellow for me (I felt like a Golden Lion Tamarin)

Manic Panic 'Electric Tiger Lilly'. Ahhhh it's love. This is the fantastically bright manga-esque orange I always wanted!

But, new year, new.... doing stuff. My resolutions for this year are all based around the word 'lighter'. I have lighter hair, a lighter body (I started this one last year and am about halfway to my goal, so still working on that one) and I've started to have a lighter wallet (I've begun hardcore 'house deposit' saving). What were your New Years Resolutions?

I'm also aiming to get back on track with the blogging, and I'm really looking forward to catching back up with what you've all been doing!!

The Joys of Christmas Baking - Part Two

2011-12-15T21:32:00.001+08:00

Howdy everyone! So the Christmas bake-a-thon continues... Over the weekend I made 120 cookies as presents for the crew at work. And oh my were they cute cookies! I got the recipes from the very talened Sprinkle Bakes and tailored them to be red, green and adorablly Christmassy.

Ingredients (per roll)
2 Cups Plain Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
2/3 Cup Icing Sugar
1/4 Cup White Sugar
285g Unsalted Butter (room temp)
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Paste
1 Teaspoon Rasberry (red swirl) or Creme De Menthe (green swirl) extract
1 Teaspoon Red or Green Food Colouring
1 1/12 Cups Red or Green Non Pareils/Edible Glitter

Combine all dry ingredients and whisk to mix.

Put the butter into the bowl of the stand mixer and gradually add the dry ingredients and mix slowly until combined. Add vanilla and mix until it forms a ball.

Divide the dough into two equal portions and return one portion to the bowl. Add the extract and colouring and process until combined.

Roll out each portion of dough between sheets of baking paper.

Leave dough between the sheets of baking paper and refrigerate until firm (at least 2 hours)

Pour the non pareils into a shallow rectangular dish (I used a baking tray).

Peel off the baking paper from each dough. brush the vanilla dough with a little water, and lay the coloured dough on top of it. Press with your fingers to seal the two doughs together. (I had to use some icing sugar on my red dough as it was still a bit soft and sticky)

When the dough is just pliable (But still cold) roll it up. As you roll, gently curl the end with your fingertips to avoid air pockets. As you roll the vanilla dough might tear, just pinch these tears back together. Roll your dough in the non pareils/glitter to cover the outside.

And this is what happens when working with edible glitter:

I ended up veeeerry shiny!!

Refrigerate the rolls until firm enough to slice (4 hours to a week, this can also be frozen for up to 2 months, just defrost in the fridge overnight before slicing).

Heat oven to 165 Celsius (I have a fan forced oven) . Slice the log into 0.5cm slices and bake on baking paper lined trays for 15-17 minutes, until the cookies are no longer shiny on top and the bottoms of the vanilla portions are golden.

I then packed them up in cute little bags and voila! Mass Christmas love.

The Joys of Christmas Baking - Part One

2011-12-11T01:54:00.002+08:00

So the silly season is well and truly upon us, and for me that traditionally means two things - Shopping and Baking. I've gotten right into the Christmas baking over the last week so I thought I'd share some of the recipes I use.

I started the baking season off last week with a marathon shortbread baking session with my Aunty Lee. This is a tradition in my family, my Nanna used to bake 20 something cakes of the most divine shortbread on her own for family and friends. In the last few year my Aunty Lee and I joined in to help her out. Now that my Nan is gone, we keep the tradition going for her. I LOVE it. It makes me feel closer to my Nan (who I absolutely adored and miss terribly) and it's a fun day with my Aunty, and occasionally my cousins when they can make it. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos... so this recipe will have to wait until next year.

Next on the agenda was gingerbread for one of the work Christmas parties. This one I did think to take photos of. Largely because I recently obtained both 'ninjabread man' and moustache shaped cookie cutters and they were both AWESOME. Not that Chritmassy sure, but the flavour was so that's ok right? All credit for the recipe goes to the fantastic Bakerella.

Gingerbread Cookies
5 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1 cup butter, slightly soft
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup molasses

Sift flour, soda, salt and spices together in a medium bowl and set aside.

Using a mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add egg and mix until combined.

Add molasses and mix until combined.

Gradually add in flour mixture and mix until combined and a dough forms.

Divide dough into four sections and shape each into a flattened disc. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. When ready to bake preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out each disc between two sheets of parchment paper using a rolling pin. Flour the sides of the paper that will touch the dough to make it a little easier to release. Cut out shapes and remove excess dough to reuse.

Leave cutouts on parchment paper and transfer to cookie sheet. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Cool on cooling rack. For my moustaches, I was a little lazy and instead of making my own icing, I drew in the hairs with writing fudge.

For the Ninjabread men I used the following icing:

Royal Icing
3 medium egg whites
1½ tsp lemon juice
700g icing sugar, sieved
colouring paste

Tip the egg whites into a bowl and beat with an electric mixer. Stir in the lemon juice. Gradually add the sieved icing sugar, mixing well after each addition. Continue adding small amounts of icing sugar until you achieve a good consistency for piping (like toothpaste); add more lemon juice if the mixture is too thick. Divide the icing among several bowls, depending on how many colours you want (I used green and black). You will need only a small amount of colour – dip a cocktail stick into the colouring paste and mix the icing thoroughly to make a smooth, even colour.

I then used a piping bag to pipe cute little ninja outfits. Oh they make me happy.

Summer Days are here again!

2011-12-04T20:54:00.000+08:00

Well Summer has come along with gusto! Four days in and its been pretty darn warm! I have to admit, I've never coped all that well with super hot weather, but I do enjoy the bright shiny sunny days, something about it just puts me in a good mood. I went into the city today to do some Christmas shopping (successfully!), I'm finally making some progress there which is exciting, didn't even buy ANYTHING for myself. Does anyone else have issues with going Christmas shopping for other people and coming home with present for themselves or is it just me?

I haven't done an outfit post for AGES so I decided to take a few detail shots. Today's outfit was pretty darn basic, just a singlet and shorts, so I relied on my accessories to spice it up. I needed my hair off my neck so I bundled it all up into a turban and wore my super cute new Melissa shoes (always a winner!).

Shoes: Melissa
Socks: Alannah Hill
Shorts: Cotton On
Singlet and Sunnies: Forever New
Turban: Sportsgirl
Watch: Ice Watch
Lipstick: Lime Crime - My Beautiful Rocket

Sight-Seeing in Sydney - Part 3

2011-11-30T21:11:00.000+08:00

So... last post in the Sydney trilogy and my flower nerd status is on display for all to see! The Botanical Gardens in Sydney truly are beautiful, with views of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge popping up unexpectedly all over the place. Although I do think that in some aspects Sydney remind me of Gotham City, specifically the thousands of bats!!!

Sight-Seeing in Sydney - Part 2

2011-11-21T18:45:00.000+08:00

Howdy folks! Part 2 of my photographic journey through the beautiful Sydney features shorts from Manly beach, and the ferry back to Circular Quay. I really like Manly, it has this great, laid back feel to it that I really enjoy. And of course, every time I go on a boat I get 'I'm on a Boat' by the Lonely Island stuck in my head which to me is a win.

Next up, pretty flowers in the Royal Botanical Gardens

Sight-Seeing in Sydney - Part 1

2011-11-20T22:43:00.000+08:00

So... I take lots of photos. It's what I do. So obviously a visit to Sydney warranted many many photos being taken which I have decided to break up into a few posts. The first installment consists of some of the usual 'must see' sights plus the very piratey looking Sea Shepherd ship, the man at the entrance of Luna Park participating in Movember, the view from the Blu Bar on the 36th floor of the Shangri La and night time at The Rocks. I hope you like them!

Mawage

2011-11-15T17:12:00.000+08:00

Hi Guys, I'm sorry I've had another long absence from the blog world, at least it was for a much happier reason this time! I have been over in Sydney for my brother's wedding, very good times! And as you can tell from my post title, I can no longer think about weddings without getting the voice of the Impressive Clergyman stuck in my head. (damn you Princess Bride!)

My big brother David has kinda been my hero, ever since I was a little kid, and I know its soppy and dorky, but I AM soppy and dorky, so that's OK. Although I was a bit of a brat to him when we were young he never ever got mad with me, and really I've always adored him.

Actually... what am I talking about dorky for? Coolest. Kids. Ever.

I have to admit I was sad when he moved to Sydney with his then-girlfriend, now-wife Courtney, because well.. I missed him! But it has been such a great move for them both and as trendy young people they fit incredibly well with the Surry Hills lifestyle. And I now have an excuse for regular holidays to Sydney! Court has already felt like a member of our family to me for a very long time, so it was lovely to get to welcome her officially! The wedding was fairly non-traditional, with the bride looking absolutely stunning in a black Collette Dinigan dress and no walking down an aisle, and it suited them to a T. The ceremony itself was truly the most personal, funny and beautiful one I've ever been to.

It was a fantastic celebration and I know they will continue to make each other incredibly happy. I'll have more Sydney-related posts over the next few days. :o)

Halloween Hijinx

2011-10-30T23:40:00.008+08:00

Ahhhhh Halloween! Aside from Christmas, my very favourite holiday of the year. Although I use the word 'holiday' very loosely... Sadly it's not really a hugely celebrated holiday here in Australia... I don't believe I ever went trick or treating as a youngster. Thankfully my friends all enjoy playing dress-ups as much as I do! Which as long time followers would know is a lot! You can check out some of my previous costumes here. This year I decided to go in full on Mexican Day of the Dead sugar skull styles. I really really enjoy costumes where I can do fun things with makeup. It came out pretttttty sweet so I took step by step shots just in case anyone is interested in how I pulled the look together.

Starting point... Curly hair, NO make-up (eeeek!)

White face-paint all over the face (except around the eyes)

Draw on the outline of the pattern with a white eyeliner pencil (MAC Eye Kohl in Fascinating)

Terrifying... Purple around the eyes. (MAC Eye Shadow in Beautiful Iris, MAC Pigment in Violet, and Bourjois Little Round Pot # 72)

A gold outline around the purple and blue petals around this. This was much easier than I thought it would be, I used a brush the size I wanted the petals to be and dabbed the blue on. (Limited MAC Superslick Liquid Eyeliner in Pure Show, MAC Eye Shadow in Electric Eel)

So much make-up...

Draw in the outline of the pattern with black eyeliner. Shade in cheeks towards mouth with black eyeshadow. (MAC Eye Shadow in Beauty Marked, Revlon Colourstay Eyeliner in Black)

Fill in the pattern in bright colours and line eyes with a black liner. Mark out teeth over lips with black liner. (MAC Fluidline in Blitz and Glitz, MAC Eye Shadows in Eyepopping, Wondergrass, Romping, Dear Cupcake and Rule, MAC Pro Longwear EyeShadow in Sunny Outlook, Napolean Eyeshadow in # 92)

Glue on gems with eyelash glue and add crazy false eyelashes and voila! (Inglot Eyelashes 62F)

Happy Halloween to you all! I hope you have a fantastically creepy time!!

I'm Back Baby!

2011-10-24T23:41:00.002+08:00

Hey Guys!! So... I apologise for how incredibly absent I've been over the last couple of weeks. I had all four wisdom teeth and two baby teeth at the front pulled out and so have been a fairly unhappy chappy... and earned the new nickname 'Vampmunk' for my vampiric chipmunk appearance when I first came out of surgery. Also, I've spent the last two weeks so, not really anything anyone wants to see I promise! I will get back to checking out and commenting on all of your blogs again ASAP, I'm looking forward to seeing what you've all been up to. :o)

It was my first day back at work today and needless to say, dragging myself out of bed was difficult, I required an incredibly bright and spring-themed outfit to get me going. My new dress from Tree of Life was the only way to go!

Headband: Little Honey Pies
Lipstick: Lime Crime Countessa Fluorescent
Dress: Tree of Life
Tiger Iron Necklace: Kalamunda Markets
Owl Necklace: Gift
Bracelet: Forever New
Socks: Cotton On
Shoes: Betts

Pretty Flowers and Cute Animals

2011-10-07T21:15:00.000+08:00

I've been feeling pretty blah for the last few days, so I've decided, rather than be a big downer, I'll share some photos of pretty flowers and cute animals from a recent stroll through some local bushland. I hope you all have super weekends!

Natural Inspiration

2011-09-30T22:13:00.000+08:00

On the weekend I went to the outskirts festival in Northbridge which featured lots of charming little pop-up shops full of hand-made and vintage treasures, it was fabulous! I ended up walking away with two vintage dresses, two vintage scarves, a vintage skirt and a stunning fascinator (handmade by my VERY talented and artistic cousin Jess - check out her work here), a pretty great haul really!! And reasonably priced too. Top it off with a lovely cup of tea with Mamma Forde and it was a fab day!

Trying on fascinators - gorgeous but not the 'one'

Trying on the winner! It's so pretty!

Tea!

Today was a beautiful spring day, just perfect for bright bold colours. Now that I don't work just opposite Kings Park I feel I need to bring the flowers to the city in my outfits, so it was the perfect day to wear one of my new dresses combined with nature-inspired accessories! I also wore a new barbie-pink lippie by Lime Crime and I've gotta say, I LOVE it. Such a fun pop of colour and much more long-lasting than I expected. Good times!

This dude posed for me, I couldn't help but snap a picture!

Cardi: Portmans
Dress: Vintage
Stockings: We Love Colors
Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell via Solestruck
Ring, Bracelet and Sunnies: Forever New
Necklace: Inherited from my Nanna

Brace-Face

2011-09-26T19:09:00.000+08:00

Hey guys! Sorry I've not been around so much lately... Last Tuesday I took the plunge and got braces. And I've gotta say, I haven't been a very happy chappy since! I've had some fairly major problems with my teeth for a while now, so this is the first step in fixing them. Next step, removal of wisdom teeth and two baby teeth that have managed to hang on for dear life much much longer than they should have. I'm a bit terrified about that one! Anyhoo the pain, lack of ability to eat properly and headaches caused by the braces have left me feeling less than attractive for outfit posts, but I will try to get back to normal for the next couple of weeks before my operation (I got some exciting new vintage items over the weekend I hope to post about in the next couple of days). I hope you're all having a much more enjoyable time than me!!

Keelhaul that Filthy Landlubber

2011-09-19T19:40:00.002+08:00

Ahoy everyone, today be me favourite holiday, International Talk Like a Pirate Day! I was mighty happy that it fell on a weekday this year, it meant I got t' dress up full on corporate pirate style fer work. 'tis a day fer listenin' t' pirate metal 'n marathonin' th' Pirates o' th' Carribean movies. Love it!

What do you call a pirate who can’t conduct a good raid??

The pillage idiot!

What be a pirate’s favourite letter of the alphabet?

Aye, ye think it be the “R”, but it be the “C”

What does a pirate say when he has a heart attack??

ARRRRR Me Hearty!

A pirate walks into a bar with a ships wheel attached to the front o’ his trousers. The bartender asks, ‘What the hell is that ships wheel for?’ The pirate replies ‘I don’t know but it’s drivin’ me nuts!’

Why is pirating addictive?

They say once ye lose yer first hand, ye get hooked!

A pirate walks into a bar and the bartender says, "Hey, I haven't seen you in a while. What happened, you look terrible!""What do you mean?" the pirate replies, "I'm fine."The bartender says, "But what about that wooden leg? You didn't have that before.""Well," says the pirate, "We were in a battle at sea and a cannon ball hit my leg but the surgeon fixed me up, and I'm fine, really."
"Yeah," says the bartender, "But what about that hook? Last time I saw you, you had both hands."
"Well," says the pirate, "We were in another battle and we boarded the enemy ship. I was in a sword fight and my hand was cut off but the surgeon fixed me up with this hook, and I feel great, really."
"Oh," says the bartender, "What about that eye patch? Last time you were in here you had both eyes."
"Well," says the pirate, "One day when we were at sea, some birds were flying over the ship. I looked up, and one of them shat in my eye."
"So?" replied the bartender, "what happened? You couldn't have lost an eye just from some bird shit!"
"Well," says the pirate, "I really wasn't used to the hook yet."

Do any of ye slimy bilge rats 'ave any good pirate jokes? I be always on th' hunt fer new ones...

Happy Swashbucklin’ and Pillagin’ day!

Scarf, Shirt, Waistcoat Skirt AND Boots: Portmans

Necklace and Gloves: Sportsgirl

Pistol: Toys 'R' Us

Product Review - MYHD Permanent Hair Colour Remover

2011-09-18T14:20:00.000+08:00

I had a bit of a hair debacle this week. I decided to try a new hair dye, and expected to still stay in the orange hair range, maybe a little bit darker... I ended up with burgundy hair. Highly displeased. While it wasn't a terrible colour per se, it definitely wasn't me. Much too dark and well... without lots of make-up I was so pale I almost looked dead.

So thankfully it was MYHD Permanent Hair Colour Remover to the rescue!

This awesome product works by breaking down the permanent colour molecules in the hair, taking away the ability to stay within the hair shaft. I have to admit it smells terrible, kinda like smothering your head in liquid fart, but it's a MUCH gentler option than bleaching the crap out of my hair the way I would have done in this situation a few years ago. It doesn't contain bleach or other harmful chemicals and my hair actually felt really good after using it! One dose left me with very blonde roots and pale kinda orangey brown tips.

The packaging tells me that at this stage I could have used the colour remover again straight away if not enough colour was removed. For me, this was light enough for my usual colour to cover it.

Back to my lovely orange, and without my hair feeling at all brittle OR falling out. Success!!

Somewhat Healthy Cupcakes

2011-09-12T23:20:00.001+08:00

So I'm trying really really hard to eat healthier lately. And I've done a pretty good job of it so far, but alas I have a reputation as being a baker... and so am on occasion asked to bake. And so thank goodness for Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache by Harry Eastwood and its goodies laden with hidden vegetables! It really is a good buy for the health conscious baker.

This weekend was a baking occasion, we had a lovely family get-together to celebrate my Aunty's birthday and I made mini rosewater fairy cakes. They came out lovely so I thought I'd share.

Ingredients
2 Medium Free Range Eggs
160g Caster Sugar
250g Topped, Tailed, Peeled and Finely Grated Courgette
Finely Grated Zest of 1 Lemon (or 2 tiny lemons in my case)
1 tbsp Rose Water (I used 1.5 as I wanted a slightly stronger flavor)
100g White Rice Flour
100g Ground Almonds
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt

For the Icing
170g Icing Sugar
1 1/2 tbsp Rose Water
1/2 tbsp Water
1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar
White of 1 Medium Free Range Egg
Pinch of Salt
Pink Food Colouring

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Whisk the eggs and the sugar for 5 mins until pale and full of air.

Whisk in the grated courgette, lemon zest and rose water.

Next, add the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt and beat to combine. (I also added a teeny touch of pink food colouring, but you couldn't even see it in the baked cakes...)

Spoon the mixture into the mini cupcake moulds (this made about 45 mini cupcakes for me, but they really were mini - they don't rise heaps.)

Bake for 20 mins.

For the icing, place all ingredients in a big mixing bowl over a pan of boiling water. Stir with a clean metal spoon for 2 mins to dissolve the sugar. When the mixture is warm and the 2 minutes are up remove from the heat and beat with an electric whisk for 9 mins, until cool. Either pipe your icing onto the cupcakes, or if you're lazy like me, just spread the icing onto the cakes with a knife.

I apologise about the lack of in-process icing photos, I got all excited about the meringue-y-ness of it and forgot...

These really went down a treat and had a lovely, kinda old-fashioned-y flavour to them... Happy Monday all!

Feeling Human Again/Storybook Clothes

2011-09-10T19:01:00.000+08:00

Hi guys!! I'm so sorry it's been so long between posts, I came down with the most horrible fluey thing this week and have been just entirely knocked out by it. I blame Mamma Forde - she had it all last weekend. :oP

I weakened and gave in to my shoe lust last week and bought the Jeffrey Campbell Wanted G's... Ever since I saw them I just, well I NEEDED them. They're just so Wizard of Oz ruby slippers-y. And so today they got their first wear and I went with the Dorothy look, blue ankle socks and ruby red slippers. I also watched Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (love it so very much) last night which may have influenced my choice in gloves... I just want all of the Alice costumes from that movie!! I hope you've all had a better week than I have and are enjoying your weekends :o)

Cardi and Dress: Portmans
Gloves: Forever New
Socks: We Love Colors
Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell via Solestruck
Brooch: Vintage via Kiamichi7

Moving Offices

2011-09-05T20:50:00.004+08:00

So today our Department moved into it's brand spanking new offices in the middle of the city and I've gotta say, it's pretty cool. While I was a little sad packing up the desk I've sat at for the last 5ish years on Friday, and I will miss being right next to Kings Park, it's exciting to have a change. 140 William is an environmentally sustainable building that weaves fully-restored heritage buildings with the latest in commerical green design. (spiffy words provided by the buildings website :oP) It has shops, food, bars... I even have a little bit of a view of the Swan River! I can see it being fun here, although I am somewhat afraid for my bank account...

Farewell Dumas House and your beautiful fire trees!

and Hello spiffy new offices!!

Wicked Witch of the East?

2011-08-30T19:28:00.001+08:00

Once, a few years back, I wore some knee high black and white stripey socks to a family gathering, and my cousin told me I looked like the Wicked Witch of the East. I'm sure she didn't mean it in a mean way... anyhoo, it made me realise that I should totally wear the socks with red. It's genius! (And I'm completely lusting after these to wear with them to go total Wizard of Oz Styles!!)

Sunglasses: Myer Miss Shop
Necklace: Rock Rebel via Pinup Girl Clothing
Cardi: Wheels and Dollbaby
Dress and Gloves: Dangerfield
Socks: We Love Colors
Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell via Modcloth

My Feet Hurt.... For a Good Cause

2011-08-29T20:03:00.000+08:00

Mamma, Pappa and I (and around 42,000 other Perthites) partook in the Activ City to Surf yesterday morning, and I had all intentions of blogging about it in the afternoon... but then I was busy napping and stuff :oP

We of course walked the 12kms, I'm nowhere near fit enough to run it (also when I run I look somewhat like this), but it's a lovely walk and raises money for Activ, an organisation who provide services and support to people with disabilities. It's become a bit of a yearly tradition for us to walk it, although my mum has a fierce competitive nature, and so usually races off into the distance trying to beat my Uncle Bill. I prefer to take the various hills at a more sensible pace!! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend!!

And This Is Winter?!

2011-08-21T21:37:00.003+08:00

What a beautiful weekend it has been!! The sun was shining, birds were singing... and this is winter?! Yesterday I went to brunch in Hyde Park with some friends which was a lovely combination of my favourite meal of the day, good mates and catching some vitamin D. I can't believe that I've lived my whole life in Perth and never been to Hyde Park before. It was so nice in fact, that I decided I had to take my Mum there today to take some photos for her fabulous blog, PerthDailyPhoto. And so we went, got somewhat blown around by some serious wind and found a little family of black swans complete with adorable cygnets. I'm terrified of swans on the land (I had a being-chased-by-a-swan-when-I-was-still-a-tiny-person experience that scarred me for life) but at a safe distance it was pretty cool. I hope everyone else had a great one too!!

My very stylish Mamma!

Hair Flowers: Pinup Girl Clothing
Sunglasses: Miss Shop, Myer
Shrug and Dress: Portmans
Bracelet: Somewhere in Singapore many many years ago
Shoes: Forever New

Colour, Oh how I Love Thee

2011-08-18T23:37:00.000+08:00

So today my post is a bit of a mixed bag (warning - it's a long one!!), but one constant theme is colour. Oh how it makes me happy. Although my outfit wasn't hugely colourful today, I did decide to wear my bright coral-y pink eyeliner and my Dame Edna pink lippie. When I went for the orange hair, I had people tell me I would suddenly lose half my wardrobe, because you know... some colours just don't go with orange. I disagree. Red and orange? Totally fine. Pink and orange? yes! Love it. I guess I'm just a fan of contrasting colours. And complimenting colours... and yeah. You get the idea.

While outside taking my outfit pictures I noticed that there are quite a few really beautiful flowers in bloom at the moment. And as we all know I'm a little bit of a flower nerd... And this is the middle of winter! How lucky am I to live here?

And finally, I couldn't resist sharing my clever little trick to create fancy looking nails with relative ease... I've seen a few similar things on various blogs, using stationary to create oh so pretty half moon retro nails. I just used the same principle to create a different pattern. Pretty pleased with how it worked though! Happy Friday's to you all - almost the weekend!

Beanie, Socks and Shoes: Forever New
Scarf and Jumper: Portmans
Necklace: Gifted
Skirt: Sportsgirl
Owl Brooch: Gifted
Lipstick: MAC Limited Edition Dame Edna Series (Amplified Coral Polyp)
Eyeliner: Make Up Forever Aqua Cream (Shade 9)
Nail Polish: Light Green - Revlon Top Speed (Jaded), Medium Teal - MAC Limited Edition (Ocean Dip), Dark Teal - OPI (Ski Teal We Drop), Topcoat - Sally Hansen

I Totally Forgot How Epic Strawberry Nesquik Is

2011-08-15T22:00:00.000+08:00

One of my very good friends got engaged to his dream girl recently (cue: aww) and I'm so very happy for them! They had their engagement party over the weekend, and I had a hard time deciding what to give them, as they already live together and so have a lot of the household-y stuff that people usually give in these situations. So... as usual when I can't decide what to give someone, I baked them a present. I got a a fantastic recipe for strawberry milk whoopie pies on the Sprinkle Bakes website here. Of course, mine aren't quite as pretty, but they did come out darn tasty! I adjusted the recipe by filling my pies with strawberry jam and sweetened whipped cream, delish! Also, now that I have strawberry Nesquik in the house again I've become a little obsessed with it, I forgot how great it is.

Bringing the Sunshine

2011-08-08T17:59:00.001+08:00

The weather may be gloomy... but how can one feel dreary when carrying the sunshine on their head? Over the last couple of days my hair went from Blue Black to Light and Bright Orange, not an easy task let me tell you! To be totally honest I'm lucky to have any hair left. Pretty sure the abuse of my teenage years (dye a bright colour, throw two or three bleaches through one after the other to get back to blonde for school) forced my hair into resilience! But hey - very happy with the results. Happy Monday to you all!!!

Bits and Pieces

2011-08-04T23:22:00.001+08:00

I didn't manage to get an entire outfit post together today... but I did get some photos of a couple of details on my lunch break. Although I was aiming for towards semi-pirate today, I got told multiple times that I looked a bit French - I'm guessing it was the beanie and the stripey top. ... I've finally gotten around to reading The Call of Cthulu and Other Weird Tales. As someone who loves horror novels, it's probably a bit crazy that I've never read any H.P. Lovecraft before now. And I finally understand all those internet memes! I also love that my copy came with a 3D cover with old school red/blue 3D glasses. You know the 3D thing has gotten out of hand when you can't even buy a book without it!!

Shoes and Waistcoat: Portmans
Stockings: We Love Colors
Scarf, Gloves and Beanie: Sportsgirl
Puma Ring: Diva
Owl Ring: Kalamunda Markets
Pinkie Ring: Inherited from my Nanna
Necklace: Egypt
Top: Wheels and Dollbaby
Lipstick: MAC Cosmetics - Morange

Comfy Clothes and Crazy Weather

2011-08-03T19:58:00.001+08:00

Today was one of those days where the weather went from this:

To this:

Aaaand back to this:

I was very thankful to get some sun right around lunchtime and so got to go get some fresh air. I find if I don't get to get outside at lunchtime I start to go a little stir crazy. I was feeling a bit blegh this morning so I went for a trusty comfy outfit. I've had this dress for years and its a great go to dress for when I'm feeling a bit crap.

I got this cool nail painting technique over at The Dainty Squid. Love it. :o)

Bag: Kate Hill
Shoes: Wittner
Stockings: We Love Colors
Beanie: Forever New
Necklace and Scotty Dog Brooch: Inherited from my Nanna
Pink Hoodie: ... I can't remember...
Dress and Gloves: Portmans

Cardi: Wheels and Dollbaby
Ring:Sportsgirl
Lipstick: MAC Cosmetics - Lady Danger

Bake-A-Palooza: Electric Mixer Boogaloo

2011-07-31T17:55:00.000+08:00

So those of you who have been following me for a while will know that I have the honour of baking the wedding cake for two of my lovely friends and have as such been practicing cake flavours over the last few months. They live in Melbourne now, but are home this week so we took the opportunity to have a cake tasting day to help them pick a flavour. It's been a BIG weekend of baking. But it was worth it, the cakes came out well and the happy couple were very pleased, although I suspect some further discussion is required before they come back to me with a decision.

Black and White

2011-07-29T19:51:00.000+08:00

I'm definitely a colour girl. Red, yellow, orange green, blue, pink... name a colour, I probably have an item of clothing in it. But some days it's nice to just go with a really simple black and white outfit. Days like today. Also, these are my first foray into the world of Melissa shoes and oh my, do I love them. They are SO VERY comfortable and they make me smile. I can see further purchases in my future (and if my brother is reading this - don't worry.... I'll space out shoe purchases, I will still be saving money like an adult. :oP) I hope you all have fantastic weekends!

Hat: Sportsgirl
Scarf and Socks: Alannah Hill
Jumper, Collared Shirt and Skirt: Portmans
Shoes: Melissa
Puma Ring and Necklace: Diva
Owl Ring: Gifted, Kalamunda Markets
Brooch: .... A little shop in Canberra... I don't remember the name?

Batten Down the Hatches!!

2011-07-27T19:14:00.001+08:00

I find it hilarious how excited we get about storms here in Perth nowadays. Last year, we had this massive storm. It was huge. The freeway flooded, people were stranded all over the place (it hit right around 4-5pm when lots of people were headed home), lots of houses were flooded/ damaged... pretty dramatic stuff. At our place I caught kids swimming (!!) on the road out the front of our house. Ever since, every time there's even a hint of a storm emails fly around the office like crazy 'Warning! Warning! Weather is going to happen'. This is exactly what happened today. Our 'big storm' only lasted about 5 minutes but hey... it was a good excuse to go home early! Seeing as todays festivities were a bit 'blink and you'll miss it', I thought I'd share some photos from the big storm of 2010. Hope you're all having a great week!

*** Edit: Ok... So apparently I tempted fate, the rain came back over night and pretty much hasn't stopped yet....

The Mist is Pregnant with Werewolves

2011-07-23T20:28:00.000+08:00

I went out last night with some friends with plans of going to the Jazz Cellar, a very cool, very small club hidden behind some shops. You even have to enter through a little red telephone box! Awesome. Sadly when we got there (at the incredibly early time of 5:30pm) it was already full (?!). Bummer. So we ended up going into Northbridge and our old favourite, 399 bar. After taking a mosey down to Chinatown and getting some tasty food at Billy Lee's we emerged back outside to find everything covered in a thick layer of mist. Super creepy. Super pretty. I of course couldn't resist whipping out the camera.

Old Lady Styles

2011-07-23T12:42:00.000+08:00

Hey Guys! I'm sorry I've not been posting as regularly as I used to lately, I've been dealing with a long period of really bad insomnia, and to be honest by the end of the work day it can be hard to drag myself in front of a camera - I feel... unattractive to say the least. BUT I did manage to get some shots of my outfit yesterday... I was somewhat more old lady chic than I had originally planned, what with the knitted cardi and the actual glasses from the 50's and all, but hey, I'm ok with that! Also, I must apologise for the horrid regrowth... I'm preparing for some exciting new hair (!!!!) and can't dye it for a few weeks...

Glasses: Vintage 50's Eyewear
Long Sleeve and Knitted Jumpers: Portmans
Gloves and Socks: Alannah Hill
Skirt: Sportsgirl
Shoes: Jeffery Campbell via Solestruck
Brooch: Inherited from my Nanna
Necklace: ... I can't remember? Possibly the Paddington Markets?

Healthy Treats!

2011-07-17T20:32:00.000+08:00

How exciting to discover a recipe book that offers healthy (well... they contain vegetables, that's healthy right?) treats that are actually delicious. And that exactly what Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache by Harry Eastwood is. I ordered this book a few weeks ago and it's full of delish looking recipes that I can't wait to try out, all containing hidden vegetable goodness. I made the following recipe for Syrup Scones the other day and they are fab!

Ingredients
250g Plain Flour plus a little extra for dusting. (the recipe called for white spelt flour but I couldn't find any)
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1/4 Tsp Salt
40g Unsalted Butter, Cold and Cubed
3 Tbsp Golden Syrup
200g Peeled and Finely Grated Sweet Potato
Grated Zest of 1/2 an Unwaxed Lemon

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Put the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into the bowl of a food processor, along with the butter.

Whizz it until you reach butter coloured breadcrumbs (they will be super fine).

Add the grated sweet potato and lemon zest. Dip a tablespoon into boiling water for a second and then use it to scoop the golden syrup out of its tin. Pour these spoonfuls into the breadcrumb mixture. Pulse until the mixture comes together to form a dough.

Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it lightly until it has absorbed enough flour to make it easy to handle. Roll out the dough (aim for about 4cm thick), taking care not to apply too much pressure.

Cut out scones with a 6cm cookie cutter and place them on the baking sheet. Dust a little flour over the tops and put into the middle of the oven for 12-15 minutes, until risen and golden. Serve with cream and jam, or cream and golden syrup.

Yum!!

I Heart Unicorns

2011-07-11T17:41:00.000+08:00

It was a highly chilly morning today, PERFECT weather to wear my unicorn jumper. I can't even tell you how much I love this jumper, Its soft, comfy and warm and really... who doesn't love a good unicorn right? It would seem I am ever more obsessed with the red/navy combo as well. What are you're all time favourite items of winter clothing?

Both Scarves: Sportsgirl
Jumper: Friends of Couture
Dress (worn as skirt): Alannah Hill
Stockings: We Love Colors
Boots: Maybe Portmans?

Little Red Riding Hood

2011-07-06T20:26:00.000+08:00

I can not tell you how long I've been looking for a red hooded cape. And a couple of weeks ago I found one. Yay! Thanks Friends of Couture! I'm very pleased with the fact that it's not too heavy because, although it's pretty chilly here at the moment, I don't feel the cold that much, and tend to overheat with heavy coats. Finally I'm free to indulge my inner fairytale heroine!

Also, I just wanted to say Thankyou to the lovely Beauty Chokes for nominating me for not one, not two, not even three but FOUR awards. I was nominated for the Kreativ Blogger, The Versatile Blogger, the Stylish Blogger and the One Lovely Blog Awards. I'm stoked!! Ya'll should go check out the Beauty Chokes blog, she's a great makeup artist and has some fab beauty product/makeup reviews.

Beanie: Forever New
Cape: Friends of Couture
Dress: Galaries Lafayette
Stockings: We Love Colors
Shoes: I Love Billy

Harlequin Legs

2011-07-04T18:50:00.002+08:00

I am one of those people who, when she has something new, simply can't wait to wear it. So of course today I had to wear some of my bright new stockings. And I couldn't resist the charm of the sunny yellow harlequin stockings, so I based the whole outfit around them. Does anyone else decide on their whole outfit based on one accessory??

Beanie: Sportsgirl
Scarf: Markets in Egypt
Top, Belt and Skirt: Portmans
Stockings: We Love Colors
Shoes: Airflex at Betts

A Cornucopia of Colour

2011-07-02T23:14:00.000+08:00

I received a package from We Love Colors on Friday. Something tells me I may have gone a little overboard...but no-one could possibly say that such a bundle of colour doesn't make them happy!!

I Still Love Jumping in Puddles

2011-06-30T18:44:00.000+08:00

It has been super rainy and stormy this week, which is awesome - I love stormy weather! As long as I'm inside anyway. There's nothing like being curled up under a blanket with a good book listening to the rain.... of course that's not what I was doing today, I was off to work and pretty pleased to get a chance to wear my rain boots. Being a Perthite I was worried rain boots were a frivolous purchase but I do love them!

Scarf: Cotton On
Black Shrug and Hat: Portmans
Dress: Princess Highway
Stockings: Sportsgirl
Rain Boots: Target
Necklace: Modcloth
Scarf Pin: Inherited from my Nanna

Practise Wedding Cake #2

2011-06-29T22:58:00.000+08:00

And there is more chocolate!! I think my second practise wedding cake flavour may be the most chocolate/sugar/cream filled thing I've ever baked. And it was delicious (although super rich). It's going to be interesting to see what flavour my friends pick!

Ingredients

Chocolate Mudcake

250g chocolate (I used 125g dark chocolate and 125g milk chocolate)
250g unsalted butter

1 teaspoon instant coffee granules/powder
188ml (3/4 cup) water
325g plain flour
30g cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
550g caster sugar
4 large eggs

2 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
125ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk

Ganache
150g milk chocolate
150g dark chocolate
84ml thickened cream

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Grease the side and base of a deep 23cm or 24cm diameter round cake pan (or a silicone cake pan like I use).

Place 250g chocolate, butter, coffee and water in a large saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. When chocolate and butter have melted, remove mixture from heat and allow to cool to lukewarm/room temperature.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda together into a large bowl.

Add the caster sugar to the bowl with the flour mixture, and stir the ingredients together with a whisk until well combined.

In a medium bowl, place eggs, oil, vanilla and buttermilk. Whisk the wet ingredients together until well combined.

Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until well combined.

Add the chocolate mixture to the egg and flour mixture in a three batches, stirring until combined after each addition.

Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes (24cm pan) or 1 hour and 30 minutes (23cm pan). Insert a thin-bladed knife or wooden skewer into the centre of the cake to test whether it is cooked through. If the knife/skewer comes out clean or with moist crumbs (not gooey batter) attached, the cake is ready.

Remove cake from oven, cover with a clean tea towel and allow to cool in the pan.

When the cake has cooled to room temperature, remove it from the pan. The top surface of the cake will probably have a crunchy crust, which you may wish to trim off. We turn the cake upside down to give a flat surface for icing. (Mine totally caved in but once I trimmed the top off it was all good - also then you get to eat the offcuts!)

Ganache
Place chocolate and cream in a medium heavy-based saucepan over very low heat. Stir frequently, and remove from heat when chocolate has just melted and mixture is smooth. If necessary, allow the ganache to cool slightly at room temperature to obtain a spreadable consistency.

Accidental Shoe Purchase and Pretty Pastel Pleats

2011-06-27T21:11:00.000+08:00

So on Saturday I accidentally bought a new pair of shoes. They were cute and heavily discounted ( check out the Wittner sale - it's a good one!) and I didn't mean to... I just can't seem to control myself at the moment. There's sales everywhere and I've been feeling pretty blah which always leads to retail therapy... I also got a very pretty pleated pink skirt. I've been after a pleated maxi skirt for a while now and I was super happy with the colour of this one. Funnily, while its full length on me, the skirt was midi length on the mannequin. A bonus of being a short-arse?

Shoes: Wittner
Skirt: Sportsgirl
Ring: Paris Bookanists
Nail Polish: MAC
Headscarf: Inherited from my Nanna
Glasses: Ray Ban

Heart Attacks and White Chocolate

2011-06-23T18:42:00.002+08:00

God I hate the end of financial year. I'm sorry I've been so sporadic with my posting and commenting lately guys! As my work revolves around funding for non-Government services, and I do ALL of the admin for our Departments 400 funded services it's been a bit of a heart attack situation this week. Massive headaches and RSI galore!

So as I feel rather run down and unattractive, I thought I'd share a recipe for the white chocolate mud cake that I baked the other day. A couple of my lovely friends are getting married next year and they've asked me to bake their wedding cake. I feel so honored! ...aaaaand terrified that I'll stuff it up. So I'm practicing a bunch. They live in Melbourne and are coming over to visit next month so I'm trying to figure out possible cake flavours so that when they're here we can do a bit of a tasting session. This one actually turned out pretty darn delicious!

Ingredients
Cake

300g white chocolate (I used Cadbury Dream white chocolate)
200g butter
250ml (1 cup) milk
165g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
100g (2/3 cup) self-raising flour
150g (1 cup) plain flour

Sour Cream and White Chocolate Ganache
200g white chocolate
88g sour cream

White Chocolate Mud Cake

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius (145 degrees Celsius fan-forced). Grease a 20cm cake pan and line the base and sides of the pan with baking paper (or use a silicone cake pan like I did).

Place chocolate, butter, milk and sugar in a large saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently. Remove from heat when chocolate and butter have melted, and stir mixture until completely smooth. Allow mixture to cool at room temperature for 15 minutes.

Add vanilla and eggs to chocolate mixture and stir until well combined.

Stir flours together in a large bowl. Add one cup of chocolate mixture to the flour and stir until a smooth paste forms.

Repeat with another cup of the chocolate mixture. Add remaining chocolate mixture and stir until mixture is smooth. This gradual method of combining the wet and dry ingredients helps prevent lumps.

Pour mixture into prepared pan.

Bake for about 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes. When the cake is ready, a fine-bladed knife inserted into the center of the cake should come out without any batter attached.

Loosely cover cake with greaseproof paper or a clean tea towel and allow it to cool to room temperature in pan. The cooled cake can be iced with the white chocolate ganache immediately (see directions below), or stored and then iced on the day of serving.

Store cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving. The cake is suitable to freeze iced or uniced.

Sour Cream and White Chocolate Ganache
Melt white chocolate in a small saucepan over very low heat, stirring frequently.

When chocolate has completely melted, remove from heat and quickly stir in sour cream. Use immediately, or if your ganache is quite runny, set it aside at room temperature to thicken slightly before using.

Sunshine on a Rainy Day

2011-06-18T17:39:00.000+08:00

So I hate to admit, the last two days back at work after my lovely time away were pretty tough... stressful to the point of inducing a huge headache even. Which means I've been incredibly cranky-pants and generally delightful to be around.

In an effort to raise my mood I wore some beautiful bright yellow and spent the day baking. It helped. Kinda.

Hat: Portmans
Yellow Jacket: Modcloth
Shirt: Em & Sprout
Shorts: Cotton On
Stockings: Alannah Hill
Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell at Solestruck
Ring: Forever New

Frolicking Adventures

2011-06-16T20:39:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone!! I'm sorry I've been such a bad blogger this week! I've been lucky enough to be off for the last week visiting one of my best mates in Canberra and having super awesome fun snow adventures with a group of friends at Thredbo.

It was the first time I've ever seen snow in real life and it was really great to share the experience with such fun people. Snow ball fights + snow men + a warm jacuzzi with a view of the snow capped mountains = explosions of awesome (and actually there were fireworks on our first night there so you know.... I mean explosions literally).

An insight into me through the artworks on my body.

2011-06-06T22:13:00.000+08:00

When I was 16, I wanted a tongue ring REALLY badly. My Mum however, REALLY didn't want me to get one. At the time my cousin had just gotten a very tasteful little tattoo of a black cat on her ankle. During an argument over the tongue ring issue, Mum made the mistake of saying 'Can't you just get a nice tattoo instead?!' And BAM, that was it. YES!! was my resounding answer. And that is how I ended up with a Celtic knot on my belly. At that age of course I didn't think about the fact that I probably wouldn't have a nice flat belly forever, or that maybe one day I'd get pregnant. While that one hasn't happened yet, I suspect it'll be a little amusing to see how this one stretches... I have to be honest, I really didn't put as much thought into this one as I could have. I did like the idea of the points standing for Spirit, Mind, Body. I felt that was very deep. :oP Little did my mum know, tattoos seem to be somewhat addictive.. I was hooked.


Please note, this was taken just after I got the tattoo... the Millencolin bird on my hand is not a real tattoo. Sadly my stomach no longer looks like this.

Tattoo number two came when I was 18. I was (and still am) obsessed with Egypt, and loved stories about the culture and the ancient Gods and Goddesses. I realized my dream of visiting Egypt last year and man, was it amazing. Seriously the history there is unbelievably fascinating. I always loved the Ankh, the Egyptian symbol of life and it just seemed natural for me to get this next. Being that this is on my back I very rarely see it, and through taking this photo I've just realized how very faded and terrible looking it is. Looks like its time for a touch-up/possible extension to this one!

Tattoo number three actually happened in two stages. Originally I just got the star. This one was kinda a bonding exercise with my then partner. We were both all punk rock and both got different stars tattooed on us on the same day. The x's came later and really give this one a whole lot more meaning for me. The XXX represents my being Straight Edge, which I mentioned in an earlier post. I took quite a few years of being straight edge before I got a tattoo... I guess it seemed like a big commitment. But honestly its a way of life for me that I really believe in and don't see that changing.

Tattoo number four is a typical teenage thing... the Strung Out atom. Strung Out have been my favourite band since I was 11. While a band tattoo seems like it could be something that you could end up regretting, I still love this. All these years later listening to them still makes me happy, and even if it didn't looking at this tattoo takes me back to all sorts of happy memories and really, how could that ever be a bad thing?

By tattoo number 5, I was taking a bit more time to think about my designs, thinking longer and harder about the things that I was permanently putting on to my body. Still addicted, but more grown up about it maybe? I was also a bit obsessed with Japanese artworks at this stage of my life. I went with the Koi Fish, as I loved the story that goes with the image of the Koi swimming upstream. According to Japanese legend, if a koi succeeded in climbing the falls at a point called Dragon Gate on the Yellow River, it would be transformed into a dragon. The Koi are therefore a symbol of perseverance and strength of purpose. I must say, the foot is by far the worst place on my body I have had tattooed. Aside from the considerable pain, you feel it vibrate through all of the small bones...

...and despite that I went back for more on tattoo 6. I was still heavily into the Japanese art at the time and wanted something for my other foot that wouldn't clash too much with my Koi. I liked the cherry blossom for it's beauty and for it's representation of the transience of life.

Now we come to my pirate wench. I've always had a thing about pirates. Not really sure why. I guess I'm just a big kid and like the idea of swashbuckling on the open seas. I got this tattoo right around the ending of a very long relationship. For me my piratess became a symbol of a strong woman who can look after herself. And of course she has bright red hair as I did at the time...

And finally we have Sir Hootington. This little fella really does mean a lot to me. After the ending of a (really quite emotionally scarring) relationship that spanned the majority of my adult life, I really struggled for some time. My heart was broken and my confidence was shattered (I still have trouble trusting people). And it's in these times that you truly realise how important your friends and family are. My loved ones are really the best people in the world and the love and support they gave me picked me up and helped me to find myself again. My owl is a symbol of the things I've learnt over the last few years, about myself and about the people around me. He's a symbol of survival and coming out the other side better. And of course his dapper tophat represents the fact that in the future, I deserve a gentleman!

And that's all of them for the moment. I hope this was a little bit of an interesting insight into me, I know it's a lot more wordage than i usually have!!

I can kill a couple of nerds by myself, thanks.

2011-06-05T13:53:00.000+08:00

As I mentioned yesterday, I went to a dress up party (heroes and villians theme) last night. Now, I never really grew up, so I LOVE playing dress-ups. And I really enjoy playing with creepy make-up effects. Unfortunately I didn't realise it was a dress up party until halfway through last week, so I was looking for a costume that could be effective but wouldn't require anything too crazy to put together.

I admit I was panicking a little, heroes are generally tricky as far as outfits go and I kept thinking of Disney villianesses who are also a bit difficult... and then I thought, who is my favourite villain from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (I have seen the entire 7 series of Buffy many times....)? Dark Willow. Easy outfit-wise, fun make-up wise. I searched around Perth for some black contacts, unfortunately the one store I found that stocked them was sold out (?!) I did however manage to find some contacts that gave me a dark black ring around the coloured part of my eye that looked suitably freaky!

More Baked Birthday Presents

2011-06-04T17:43:00.002+08:00

Its one of my really good mates birthday party tonight (with a heroes and villains theme... I'll post pictures of my costume if it looks good!). As he is a big Dr Who fan, I found a super cool Tardis cookie jar that lights up and makes Tardis noises when you open it (thank you Thinkgeek!). I was pretty pleased with this find! And of course, I can't give someone a cookie jar without filling it up with delicious choc chip cookies can I? So I thought I'd share with you my never fail cookie recipe.

Ingredients
125g unsalted butter
185g (1 cup) soft brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla paste
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon milk
215g (1 3/4 cups) plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
185g (1 cup) milk chocolate chips
185g (1 cup) white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a baking tray with baking paper. Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl.

Mix in the vanilla essence and gradually add the egg, beating well.

Mix in the milk.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, then fold into the butter and egg mixture.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Roll level tablespoons of the mixture into balls and put on the baking tray, leaving about 4cm between each cookie.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!!

Heritage

2011-06-03T20:46:00.000+08:00

So I kinda feel like I've talked about myself enough in my last post, but I couldn't resist blogging my outfit today. I love love love tartan (must be my Scottish heritage coming out!) and I was pretty happy with how this outfit came together. I hope you all have fantastic weekends ahead of you!

Headband: Diva
Scarf: Cotton On
Shirt: Peter Alexander
Skirt: Portmans
Gloves: Forever New
Stockings: Leona Edmiston
Shoes: Dr Martens
Brooch: Inherited from my Nanna

I received an AWARD! See who I tagged next!

2011-06-03T19:16:00.002+08:00

Well I'm just a bit stoked! The beautiful Michelle from Hot Pink Combat Boots has tagged me with the VERSATILE BLOGGER Award! I'm so flattered that anyone even looks at my little slice of the interweb, so to be tagged for this kinda thing by such a cool lady is pretty darn sweet.

As part of accepting the Award there's a couple of things I need to do - the first is to reveal 10 things about myself, so here goes:

1. My family and close friends are the most important thing in the world to me... I'm very lucky to have amazing, super supportive people in my life.

2. I'm missing my left trapezius muscle. You can't really tell, the only outward sign that I'm slightly deformed is a little dimple on my left shoulder (I actually kinda like the dimple), although I do get migraines which is a bummer.

3. I'm straight edge, which means that I don't drink, smoke, do drugs or have promiscuous sex. I would say that this is because I like to treat my body as a temple, and that's mostly true... as long as you don't think about the mass sugar and chocolate I consume on a regular basis.

4. I was so shy when I was younger that I think it took me about a 6 months to make any new friends when I went to high school. I'm a lot better now but I still worry that new people think I'm snobby rather than just socially awkward.

5. I handle the admin and payments for all of our Departments funded services, but I'm so bad with maths that I can't add short columns of small numbers in my head (I do much using of calculators) .

6. I find baking incredibly relaxing

7. I have 8 tattoos (so far).

8. Although I have widely varying musical tastes (from ska to metal to hip hop to electro-pop and most things in between) I still consider myself a little punk and listening to old skater punk is guaranteed to put me in a good mood.

9. I know all of the words to Shaggy's Mr Boombastic (It's my Karaoke song).

10. I'm a HUGE nerd and have hermited myself away for weeks at a time to play Zelda and Mario. I can also have entire conversations in Simpsons quotes.

The other thing I need to do is pick 15 other bloggers to pass the award on to, so here we are, I tag the following 15 awesome blogs with the Versatile Blogger Award:

1. Perth Daily Photo

2. The Cat Hag

3. Miss Tallulah Porkchop

4. Country Girl Does Norfolk

5. Fat Frocks

6. Hivenn

7. My Favourite Fashion

8. Sick By Trend

9. Tasha's Treasure Trove

10. The Moptop

11. Tia_Cherie

12. Beauty Chokes

13. Bow Dream Nation

14. Kirstin Marie

15. Little Bits of NikkNak

Thanks so much Michelle!

A Small Sample of Street Art/Grafitti Around Perth

2011-05-29T23:10:00.001+08:00

I went for a lovely leisurely stroll around Perth today with my mum, a good friend and our cameras. I ended up mostly taking pictures of some of the various street art around Perth (good and kinda crappy), just coz I like interesting colours/textures. Seems like it was good that we took advantage of the nice weather today, apparently we're in for all kinds of stormy madness for the rest of the week!

WAMI Awards

2011-05-29T01:19:00.001+08:00

So this is what I made of the 'Casual Glam' dress code for the WAMI Awards. Turns out I fit in quite well there so I'd class it as a success!

Dress: Vintage 70's (Perth Retro Market)
Glasses: Vintage 50s Eyewear
Pearls: Vintage (inherited)
Big Ring and Stockings: Sportsgirl
Leather Jacket: Portmans
Boots:.... possibly Portmans?

Nail Obsessed

2011-05-27T14:32:00.000+08:00

So it seems I've become obsessed with nail appliques... I've only ever tried the Sally Hansen variety so far, but passing by the OPI products in David Jones today I noticed that they had some seriously cool designs and I couldn't quite help but pick some up. They'd better last a long time though, at almost $20 a pack they are super pricey. I did that thing where you take something to the checkout without checking the price properly then you walk away thinking 'Oh dear God I just spent how much on nail appliques?!'.

I'm off to the WAMi (Western Australian Music Industry) Awards tomorrow night and have been given the very cryptic dress code of 'casual glam to the max'. While I'm really not sure what to make of that, I feel that the skull nails will need to be involved. Does anyone have any suggestions about what they would do with that dress code?