Melbourne

On Sunday my dear friend Chris celebrated his 25th birthday, so in honour of the occasion we packed our bags and drove 750km to Melbourne to party with him. We left Adelaide at 5am and arrived in Melbourne at about 3pm. Chris, Rach, Amanda and I stayed in the Space Hotel  in a dorm with two other lovely room mates, Geoff and Michael. We ate the most delicious fried chili tofu at Dragon House then partied like there was no tomorrow  at The Provinical, Cape Live Bar (later known as "Cape Fear") and Laundry. Saturday consisted of sleeping in, big brekkies, a few hours of shopping (we were too fragile to hit it hard) and naps. On Saturday night we had drinks at Hells Kitchen, dinner at The Quarter, then more drinks at Lustre Lounge before buying a few cheeky bottles of wine and Fosters and heading back to the hostel. At midnight we sang Chris happy birthday and partied out front of the hostel with all our new friends. Sunday started with hostel check-out, breakfast at the amazing Tin Pot Cafe in Fitzroy and a long drive home. It was an amazing weekend with my dearest friends, but I sure was glad to sleep in my own bed again.

Delicious meal at Dragon House

Starting the night at The Provincial

Skittle bombs

Chillin at The Basement

Occupy Melbourne protest

Tree art

Trunk bar - sadly we did not get to wine and dine here.

Geoff and Chris

Rach and Sarah at Tin Pot Cafe

Sydney

On the weekend I spent three days in Sydney with my family and Pete in celebration of Dad's 50th birthday. We stayed in the heart of the city on George Street and had access to cheap eats in Chinatown, a free shuttle to take us to Circular Quay and beyond and Starbucks across the street! I love visiting Sydney because there's always so much to do and see. We took a jet boat ride through the harbour, which was incredibly fun, took the ferry to Manly for lunch and shopped at markets, walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and spent the day at Luna Park. At night we drank beer and cheap cocktails and ate $10 meals. It was nice to have a little family holiday and have a change of scenery for a weekend.

Papa bear at Adelaide Airport

Yours truly at Sydney Airport

The Harbour Bridge, which turns 80 in March 2012!

Dad enjoying some quiet time on the balcony.

Night time view from the balcony

Manly wharf

Lunch time at Manly

One beary happy family (tee hee).

A toy llama we bought enjoying the ferry.

Llama on Pete.

Getting ready for a night on the town.

Llama enjoying cocktails and good company.

Pete getting excited about Luna Park.

Fun times at Luna.

Waiting to leave the hotel. 

My epic sunburn which I am very ashamed of. 

Just sayin'

I just wanted to post a quick note before I jet off to Sydney tomorrow morning. You can always, always look good on a budget. People ask me, "where do you shop, where do you get your clothes from?" I shop cheap, I am a regular at Valleygirl, Target, and the sale sections of Dotti, Sportsgirl, General Pants and Trims. I'm not embarrassed to check out what's new in Big W and K Mart. For instance, I previously posted about my new pair of wedges bought from Big W for $34.95, here:

You could also spend more money and get basically the same thing at Novo for $79.95

Or spend more money and get the Tony Bianco version for $179.95

Similarly, I can get these blue wedges I have been lusting over from Novo for $79.95

Or splash out on the Tony Bianco wedge at $179.95

And if anyone cares to drop a pair of those blue bad boys in my letter box (size 8, fyi) I will be so happy.

Cloudy skies

The weather today is terrible, but I caught a brief sunny spell to take some photos. I'm wearing my new, 70s style floaty blouse which I got on sale at Cotton On, my trusty $10 jeans from Globalize, Mum's vintage belt and the Cooper wedge from Betts.

Topshop wrap up London Fashion Week

So...I was going to do my own post about this but Topshop have totally nailed it and profiled all the designers I was planning to: David Koma, Meadham Kirchhoff, Louise Gray, Mary Katrantzou, Michael Van Der Ham and their own Unique show. So check out their blog and marvel at the wacky and wonderful fashion coming out of London.

David Koma 

Meadham Kirchhoff

Louise Gray

Mary Katrantzou

Michael Van Der Ham

Michael Van Der Ham

Topshop Unique

Also you can check out the video of the show which featured Bambi Norwood-Blyth and Kelly Mittendorf. It's great to hear the designers and coordinators talk about their interpretation and execution of the Cleopatra theme. Also look out for a quick comment by the lovely Marina Diamandis (Marina and the Diamonds)!

Hooray for models

Let's face it, models are freaks. They have freaky long limbs, are freaky skinny and freaky hot. So I love when a model comes along and stands out from the crowd for looking a little bit offbeat. First I fell in love with Alice Dellal (but who didn't?) with her gorgeous looks, half her hair shaved off and a penchant for dressing like she time-traveled from the 90s.

 Today I've also had Kelly Mittendorf's face popping up all over my Tumblr dashboard. I love this girl's intense yet youthful look.
 

Do you have a favourite model?