Hi there! Apologies for the unexpected radio silence around these parts. Life got busy and complicated but now I'm ready to resume my normal regimen of semi-sporadic, aimless posts. Hooray!
My friend Jaine gave me this sweet vintage dress out of the blue one day and it is now on high rotation in my wardrobe (and by wardrobe I mean floordrobe). Over the last few months I have started to foster much closer, meaningful relationships with female friends and I can't overstate how refreshing and important that has been for me. It is ridiculously sweet to go out for coffee dates with ladies I like and then receive texts from them later saying how much they enjoyed our hang outs. During and after high school most of my close friends were male and I was often hesitant to form close female friendships (having been spurned in a close friendship long ago). Having fun, clever, supportive lady friends is the best.
I probably don't need to tell you that red is my favourite colour or that I refuse to wear it sparingly. Wearing it is a pick-me-up on days when I'm feeling lacklustre. Last week I was walking in the city (not wearing red however) and an old man stopped me to thank me for looking like a "Summer's day". It definitely caught me off guard and was one of the nicest compliments I've ever received.
My mum is staying with me for the next week and then Theo and I are spending a little over a week in NSW with family. In the meantime, I am up to my ears in really fun freelance work. I really need to work on scheduling out my life better because I flounder when it comes to time management. I know it's a skill developed over time and I'll get there eventually. I need to befriend early mornings and make better use of my Filofax.
Life is good at the moment. I hope you're feeling the same way.
I went to my sweet friend Ella's baby shower today and wore this new dress. I put it on layby a month or two ago and I'm a little bit in love with it. It's by Dear Creatures (and is on sale on their website at the moment). The baby shower was lovely (and the food was amazing) and I'm very excited to meet her new little girl in a few weeks.
I'm house sitting at the moment, but stopped by my apartment to tidy it up for my rental inspection tomorrow. I am looking forward to getting back to it in a little while, now that a friend has lent me her fridge and washing machine and the internet is being connected. I'll feel like a real person again!
Nice things lately:
+ My work colleagues making me feel special when I had to work on my birthday this week (and enforcing that I wear a big, pink 'Birthday Girl' badge).
+ Mint Slice biscuits.
+ Lunch dates and afternoon teas with lovely friends.
+ Being given a cute hand-me-down dress from a sweet friend.
+ Finishing up some fun commissions (lots of pet portraits!).
+ Raw, vegan cheezecake shared with Theo.
+ Reading in bed.
+ Listening to lots of Radio National (I'm an old person).
+ Daily fur brushing sessions with the cat I'm minding; Harry the British Blue (so soft!).
Hi there! Long time no see!
This week my step sister Jaime flew home after staying with us for 10 days. We took her to MONA, stayed at the Alabama Hotel (more on that later), she minded Theo while we went to see Ben Folds with the symphony, we visited Deloraine, had a dip in the waterfall at Lilydale Falls and a picnic and a paddle at Cataract Gorge, I took her to a graphic design workshop, we went for a couple of bike rides and we ate A LOT of fruit because Jaime is a fruit addict. We don't get too many guests down here in Tassie (come visit me! I have a sofa bed waiting for you!) so it was lovely to get to show Jaime around and see Tasmania with fresh eyes again. I am so glad that having lived here for four and a half years (!), I still find it to be a ridiculously lovely place to live.
I bought this dress and a new tube of Ruby Woo when we were in Hobart. Literally the only place I buy clothes from is Dangerfield, downstairs at the Myer in Hobart which means that I rarely buy new clothes and when I do I get really excited about it.
I have officially stopped calling this guy a baby now. Look at him - he's ENORMOUS! Several times a day I say to him "Weren't you just born?!" or "Are you even real?!". He has about ten words now and his current favourite activities are dancing, washing his hands (so many times a day), brushing his teeth, jumping on his little trampoline, playing in the dirt in the backyard, kicking and throwing balls, pretending to talk on the phone and diving off of high things. I have been a bit lazy with writing in my little baby book for him and should really do an update - it's nice to slow down and try to be a bit more present and write things down. I have been really busy lately but have been able to spend a lot more time at home with this guy, which is always good.
+ Dress: Dangerfield; cardigan: Revival; shoes: Doc Martens; brooch: vintage.
I recently borrowed a tripod from my uni so that I could film myself working on a painting. I set up the tripod really high above my desk in the perfect position, with my camera on it and left it for a few days before I wanted to start painting. When I came back to it, I moved my desk slightly and the tripod fell, hard. And my lens broke. Bah, bum. And replacing it is $200 that I don't have. So I've reverted back to using my beaten up old Canon for these photos. It was my first time using a tripod/taking photos of myself by myself. It felt very narcissistic and I was worried my neighbours might be able to see me. I only lasted four photos. Here are the four photos. I also probably should have ironed my shirt.
I also wanted to mention that I've started a new course! Already! Yay, no break! It's a Diploma of Design through the Tractor Design School in Melbourne (online). I'd like to write a little bit more about that in a post soon. I am really enjoying it so far. I wore this outfit today while I took some photos on an 'awareness walk' around my neighbourhood for the first assignment. It was quite windy. Did my skirt blow up and show my undergarments several times? Yes it did.
