When life gets in the way + recent buys

Hiya!

I cannot believe that it has been over a month since I last blogged. I think it has almost been two months!! A lot has changed since I last blogged. And I mean A L O T.

For starters, I got offered a full time job as a sub editor with Fairfax Media at The Land newspaper! (For all of you 'city' folk out there, The Land is the rural peeps go-to weekly newspaper about all things... well... rural).

{N.B Sub-editing involves laying out the design on the newspaper pages, spell checking, grammar checking, fact checking etc etc.}

I was insanely excited when I found out! I had a spare-of-the-moment decision to first apply for the job when a good friend text me about the position, and since she knows me so well and knows that reporting about rural things is right up my alley being the country-bumpkin that I am, I had to apply!

After the interview my mind went into melt down and the 'what if's' started.

'What if I get the job?' 'What if they thought I was a complete looney?!' 'What if they want me to move right away?'

And so on. Until I got that call that they wanted me to relocate to western Sydney in two weeks. I had a mad rush to sort out my life, starting with moving out of my rental in Wagga Wagga, locating a new rental in Sydney and sorting out my uni enrolment to now be studying by distance education for the remainder of my degree.

Ok, take a breath!

This all happened about a month a go and I am now blogging from my new apartment in Western Sydney suburbia and LOVING IT.

Learning a new job whilst in the midst of a chaotic relocation and juggle of university work has proved to be HECTIC to say the least, and I will be honest and say there have been days where the good old tears have come out, but today I can report that I am happy, settling into my new job and life (so to speak).

Things seem to be finally slowing down, and I am slowly getting into this new routine!

Besides all of this hulla-bulloo, I haven't been doing a great deal so there isn't a lot to report on. So I thought I'd put together a quick 'recent purchases' post inspired by starting a new office job.

Since we don't have an official uniform at The Land, I have been trying to gradually buy office inspired pieces for work in the attempt that I'll stop wearing my good outfits to work. Slowly happening, still a WIP.

Here are a few office-attire purchases I have nabbed up lately:

1. Witchery shirt (bought on sale - colour is currently not available online but style still is)

2. Witchery hammered tear-drop earrings (current) 

3. Cue side panel pant (current)

4. Cue pleat front shirt (purchased on sale in store, also available online)

5. Witchery scarf (current)

I'm still working on getting a few more pieces because even though I work in an office, it doesn't mean I need to look boring!! Although, with the season changing I am holding off a bit on purchases so as to not 'stock up' on winter items when the heat will be here soon enough!!

Anyhow, I promise more blogging will be happening soon!
Take care,

E, x

Offspring fanatics

Hey there, long time no catch up! Sorry!! My busy life is once again taking over and my chances to sit down and devise good blog posts have been pretty slim.

Anyhow, how are you all? I'm doing super well! I'm actually so excited for today because my boyfriend is traveling down to pick me up for the weekend (as I managed to sell my car - that's another story) and we are going home for the weekend!!! I am actually going home to work but I am excited about that. I just need a little breathing time away from uni and I haven't seen Travis in about 3 weeks so I am super happy!

In other news, Offspring is back on TV! Are you a fan? I have to be honest and say that this is the first season that I have ever seen! (Shame on me!) I have a decent excuse... kind of. Where I grew up we didn't have Channel Ten until about year or so ago so getting to know all of the shows on the channel has been fun.

Plus, Asher Keddie (plays the role of Nina Proudman) came to my home town last year to work on the Channel Ten show 'I Will Survive' so I was keen to see what she was like as an actor!

Source: mymodernvintage.com 

Well I have tuned in this season and I am slowly getting into the whole Nina Proudman thing. I have noticed that there are some serious fanatics out there! People love this show and all of its quirky-ness.

One blog that I love, Styling You does a weekly wrap up of the show every Thursday with a Nina outfit 'inspiration' post just in case you want to purchase Nina's outfit from that episode! It's pretty cool. Ladies really seem to be into her boho look and it seems to be quite accessible to re-do in your own wardrobe if you want! Check out Nikki's blog, she is fantastic at beauty and style and really knows her stuff!!

Style inspiration put together by Nikki from StylingYou.com.au 

One thing I have to say, and I know a lot of fans will want to kick me when I say it; I'm not that sure about Nina's partner Patrick! He seems a bit 'dodgy' to me. That's just me!

What have you got planned for the rest of the week? I'll be computer-less from tomorrow so I'll check in on Monday hopefully! Happy weekend lovelies!

E, x

The weekend that was

Its already the middle of the week and I haven't even had a chance to share with you my fabulous weekend that just passed! (WARNING: I've gone a little photo mad on this post!!)

I travelled home on Friday morning so I could attend the annual horse race meet in my home town. I go every year so this year was no exception.

I was SO overly excited to get home because I hadn't seen my family or boyfriend in over three weeks! I even got a special surprise when I arrived home to see that my little sister and her boyfriend had driven all the way down from Townsville to surprise us all with a visit! I was so happy! (They were pretty tired, it was a 22 hour drive!!!! OMG!)

Me on the right with my sneaky little sister Jessie who surprised us all with a visit!

The races did not disappoint either. The day was warm and sunny, just perfect! It was made even more special because my entire immediate family was together again for the first time in five months so I was sure to get snap happy and get photos!

With my older sister Kate

My family *love*

My dress, shoes and gloves were from Witchery (my favourite store clearly lol!) and the fascinator was purchased from Myer. This year I felt more comfortable in my outfit than any other race out fit I had ever worn! It was warmer than usual but I made sure I wore nude stockings anyway.

I love a good day at the races, I got to spend some quality time with my family most importantly and caught up with my awesome friends and gorgeous work colleagues at our business tent!

Some of the team I work with when I am not at uni! Awesome bunch!

Best weekend in a long time! But I am definitely back to reality now and back to uni in the chilly Riverina! We had a cold snap here (as did much of the state) and I am rugged up on the couch as I type.

Also, before I go, I have a car update! My Barina is apparently not worth that much if I want to trade it (which I kind of expected even though I had everything repaired and she is running fine now!) so I am selling it privately and putting the money towards a new VW Golf! I went car shopping with my Dad yesterday and I think that's definitely what I want! Pretty fancy looking small car!

I am hoping that my car sells quickly, comment below if you happen to be in the market for a second hand Barina *wink*

Ellie XO

Old faithfuls

Today I was in town looking for a present for a friends housewarming party and I bent down to look at something on the bottom shelf and I heard my jeans rip.

Thank goodness it wasn't in the 'awkward' region! They tore just above my knee. I was devastated! These jeans have been my 'old faithful' skinny leg jeans that I have had for about five years now. After so many wears and washes, it looks like the denim couldn't handle it any more and had worn thin.

What to do with my old faithfuls now? Well, I could embrace the 'torn jeans look' that seems to be increasingly popular right now... or I could experiment with some cute DIY knee patches.

Inspiration here:

Source: google.com via Ellie on Pinterest

Source: goodlifeforless.blogspot.com via Ellie on Pinterest

Source: vanessajackman.blogspot.com via Ellie on Pinterest

Source: images5.fotop.net via Ellie on Pinterest

What do you think? Leave them or patch them?! 

E, x

Luxe Leather

As much as I love the warmth of summer time, I have to admit, being on the cusp of a new, chilly season is also exciting. The new fashion and accessories are already starting to emerge and I am loving some of the new season trends including the injection of leather into a lot of my favourite brands Autumn/Winter ranges.

These luxe leather pieces are new season Kookai from their 'Colour of Night' collection. Just gorgeous. How on trend is the leather Polo cap? Sporty chic? Tick!

Oscars Hype!

Because yesterday was Monday and I was stuck at work, I have unfortunately not been able to watch the Oscars pan out on TV ! * sad face *

Have any of you been watching?

I had a quick flick and peek at some of the fashion from the day in my lunch break but missed all of the real action. (I'm sure our subscription to Foxtel/Austar will pay off as the re-runs on the E! Channel will be massive an repetitive I'm sure!)

I have managed to have a glance online at the fashion (what girl doesn't do this?) and I've picked my favourites! The leading lady that takes the cake in my books is definitely Jessica Chastain (from the new film Zero Dark Thirty).

Image 1 / Image 2


Stunning!! From her porcelain skin, the red lip to the beautiful gown, she ticks all the fashion boxes in my books!

Coming a close second of course is one of my favourite up and coming actors, Jennifer Lawrence (known from the Hunger Games and the winner of the Oscar for her role as the leading lady in Silver Linings Playbook which is a movie that I was sadly disappointed in. I didn't really get it and wasn't that keen on it, but I love Jennifer as an actor either way!)

Image 1 / Image 2

She looked the bomb-dot-com!

That gown was gorg!! And its funny, there seemed to be a lot of gowns in this 'blush', pale colour palette. Maybe this is a sign of what to expect next season? I love these pale colours, even the pale actors managed to pull them off and this colour is notorious for washing people out so kudos to those ladies!

I have to say, there were a lot of gorgeous looks this year! Naomi Watts looked amaze, but I was sad to hear none of the nominated Aussies picked up awards! Especially Hugh Jackman, I mean hello, he is a superstar! Better luck next year Aus!!

Witchery Wishlist

Of course when I am trying my hardest not to spend any money and attempting to save my pennies, new season fashion and accessories hit the stores and I end up drooling and reaching for my wallet!

Witchery is by far one of my favourite fashion chain stores and I die most times I go into a store! I was at the Sydney airport last week at the Witchery airport store and spent almost half an hour walking in and around the new clothes trying to decide what to spend my loyalty voucher on! (If you're a Witchery member you get some awesome perks and vouchers!)

Here is what is on my wish list right now.

Eye Spy

Although the weather all over the country currently is in a bit of a wet mess (stay safe coastal towns!!) I still cant help but admire these gorgeous sunnies by Epokhe Eyewear and dream of sunny summer days in these on trend glasses.

Spy more styles from Epokhe Eyewear on their website here.

Blog love: Harper & Harley

Sometimes I find some spare time to cruise around the Internet and read up on cool stuff or find an awesome new blog that I love.

This week I found a couple of new blogs (all are completely different and I love them for totally different reasons!)

The one that has stuck in my mind the most this week is a fashion/style blog that maybe some of you have already heard of or are subscribed to!

It's called Harper & Harley and I am addicted to it. For starters this chick has got ah-mazing style! (and probably a decent wage to support her impeccable taste in fashion!)

Here are some snaps of her featured on her blog:

Amaze-balls sunnies anyone? I want these soooooo bad!

Check her out! She's only 23 and based in Sydney so its nice to keep our blog love local! :) I'm off to drool over more of her amazing outfits and cry at how low my bank account is knowing I cant afford any of this stuff! (LOL)

Colours of Summer: Country Road

When we were in Adelaide last week (I love this city btw! It was my first time as an adult in the city and the shopping, food and lifestyle was fantastic!!!) I got to do a spot of shopping (mostly Christmas shopping and a bit of window shopping (still a broke uni student *sad face*).

I couldn't help but notice the gorgeous summer colours in fashion right now! I am addicted to the bright and summery feel that every fashion outlet seems to have in stock.

I have a subscription to Country Road via email and often see what gorgeous stuff they have on offer (which is a blessing and a curse most days!) and I quickly popped into their Rundle Street store and got a glance at their stock in the flesh!

I am LOVING the colours!

Here are my picks:

 

 

I love this colourful combo! Those linen/cotton blend shorts are so cute and come in a heap of different colours!!

 

 

 

I can't get enough of "jelly shoes"!! I purchased a blue pair last summer when I was in the Greek Islands and love them! I bought a pair of these Country Road ones in black this year! The gold buckle and detail on top make them look a little more dressy!

I also cant go past the 'fedora' styled hat this summer! I didn't actually see this hat in store and wish I had because I love it! Its cool to be sun smart people! :)

 

 

 

 

I love a cute, breezy singlet that can be dressed up and down. This one also comes in yellow! I love this orange colour teamed with the sky/aqua colour - I'm really digging this colour right now!

 

Who doesn't love a fluro bight beach towel?! These towels are gorgeous and thick and come in heaps of different patterns! You wouldn't miss me at the beach with this doozy!

You can find all of these products online here. Shop up people! :)

Lovisa Love

I got an awesome goodie package on my desk at work yesterday filled with AH-mazing Lovisa products! (I LOVE mail, especially mail as good as this package of prettiness!!)

Have you heard of Lovisa? (I'm sure most of you have!) Do you shop there often? I have lived in a remote town for SO long which means I hadn't had much to do with Lovisa before this gorgeous package arrived at my office this afternoon and I was really happy with the quality of the products.

Lovisa was created out of a need for current fashion jewellery at an accessible price point and their stores can be found in six countries across the world! Hells yeah! Lovisa stock gorgeous and affordable items to add to your accessory collection!

I am loving this gorgeous matching necklace and bracelet set by Collette Dinnigan for Lovisa! These two items are so me (even my sister agreed that these items look exactly like something that I would wear all the time when I showed them to her! I have a thing for delicate looking jewellery and especially in gold. I'm a gold wearer!) They are so pretty and delicate, and I love the sweet little bird charms! Its love.

The eye-catcher of the goodies bunch was definitely this funky and modern statement necklace! So on trend right now, this will look great as a feature to any of my basic outfits!

These matchin ear-rings are gorg and I can see myself wearing these on regular occasions because they could easily go with any outfit and colour!

Lastly was this statement ring! How cool is it? So individual and different! I'm loving this one a lot! I even wore it to work today just to mix it up a little ;)

Now, if you're like me and unfortunately are living somewhere that doesn't have a Lovisa store near by, never fear! You can buy online at Lovisa's online store! Retail life is a lot easier these days with online shopping making everything so accessible!!

I am sold on Lovisa. Great quality products at an affordable price!