New Zealand bound!

Picture from here.

On Sunday we fly to New Zealand! Yay! Christchurch first and then off to the Nelson region...where it will hopefully be sunny....

Picture from here.

Oh, how I have missed the Alps...
I will be making the long drive from Christchurch to Nelson on my own, as the Boyfriend has to venture down south to see his family. I am looking forward to it though, the scenery is stunning!
Before we leave Australia I am hitting up the retrostar sale...hope to take some photos...we are getting there early to get the best bargains!

Easy come, easy go.

Sunday was spent hitting up the markets for our final christmas presents, it was hot and I think i spent the day in a state of mild dehydration...

I started out by wearing the above dress, brought for $4 a few months ago. It was longer and white, but I shortened and dyed it. This was my first outing in this number, but after half an hour I decided I didn't like it. Now it is languishing in the "send to the op shop" box in our hallway...
It just made me feel so blah.

So I swapped it out for this dress, $8 from Savers Dandenong. I love the colour and the fabric, it made me so felt much better!


Later, with our car crammed with people, a road tip was made to the Dandenong ranges. Ice cream, olives and freshly squeezed orange juice were consumed in vast quantities. A huge amount of time was spent in the fantastic Mangana, where we managed to complete our christmas shopping! It is the most amazing shop, seriously, we spent HOURS in there!

Trish Hunter finds!

I have been following Trish's blog for almost a year now, its been entertaining seeing all the beautiful and unusual things she manages to find on her travels...
To fulfill a dream, she has now opened an online shop, check it out here! ( I LOVE the elephant planter...hint hint Boyfriend...)

teddy bears picnic.

Our afternoon was spent at the Melbourne botanic gardens with a group of friends. We made ourselves a wee picnic, brought a few bottles of wine and gossiped the beautiful afternoon away.

I wore a comfy T-shirt material dress that I have had for ages, with my two gold coated bird brooches ($1 each from the op shop at Middle Brighton, Melbourne)

My new red shoes (flats! the first pair I have brought in ages, I normally only wear heels!), and an awesome silver ring from Peru, given to me by my friend N! (and what an awesome friend she is....:-)

A few beers and wines later things got a bit silly, including headstands, tree climbing, cricket (with a branch for a bat, a ball of tinfoil and some dubious rules) plus general jumping around!

Then we all went home...I could have gone out with the girls, but I am still suffering from Thursday night!

Twilight hangover.

On Thursday night we had our work christmas party. I wore my friends backless hot pink dress, a longline stripy T-shirt, my own jewelery and a pair of cobalt blue suede wedges. Alas there is no decent photos of me because it was an open bar and we drunk FAR too much....
I have no memory of getting home. But I paid dearly for my transgressions when I woke up the next day, in a very bad state...
Once I managed to pull myself together, I met up with my other, equally hung over friends for emergency fish and chips...mmmmmm. And we all combined our fragmented memories in an effort to discover what we had actually done the previous night....there is still a few holes!

In the evening the Boyfriend and I went to see New Moon. It was a bit long and cheesy in places, but I loved it anyway! I am definitely on team Jacob...

Jackets i'm loving right now.

These are my current three favourite jackets. I have worn them with a basic outfit of white tank $10 Target, jeans $30 Farmers and shoes $10 thrifted. The jacket above was thrifted for $15...its my most favourite jacket of all, and one of the best finds I have had all year! No matter what I wear it with I feel it adds a touch of class...

This soft leather jacket cost me $10 from the salvation army. I love it, but I need to get the shoulder repaired, as it has a rip. The possible cost scares me though! The scarf is silk, found at an op shop in New Zealand last year.

And the infamous yellow silk blazer:-)

Why am I wearing jackets when it is summer over here? Because I am cleaning out my closet and packing, as the Boyfriend and I are going back to New Zealand for a month over christmas. We are both really excited!

Pictures from here .

Does it sound weird that one of my life goals is to own a retired greyhound?
I think these dogs are so elegant and gentle, but they have an undeserved "aggressive" reputation. The reality is that they are gentle, friendly, undemanding dogs, that sleep a lot, require minimal exercise, shed and smell less than most other breeds.
As soon as we are settled back in New Zealand, maybe next year, I plan to put us on the waiting list for a greyhound, through greyhounds as pets.
Before greyhound rescue programmes came along, huge numbers of these dogs were put down every year, because they could no longer race :-(

Look at those sweet wee faces!

Thank you to everybody who commented on my last post, they were very much appreciated :-)