Saturday, my Mum, Caleb and I headed off to The Blacktown Festival. It’s been many many years since I last attended one, but it was fun to watch the parade and eat snowcones (I can’t resist anything Grape flavoured).

Saturday night I decided to go back to my natural hair colour. While it’s not the colour I was born with, pink has always been ‘me’. I have decided not to use the La Riche Directions hair colour anymore though. While it works out cheaper, it runs and stains like crazy. Having to scrub the bath and having it rub off on EVERYTHING is just not worth it.

• DRESS – Beth Ditto for Evans
• PETTICOAT – Domino Dollhouse
• TIGHTS – Gift from Caitlin
• SHOES – Unif via Solestruck
• BANGLES – c/o Lou & Chow
• RING – Cupcakes & Mace

Oh, and Mr Frodo sure enjoyed the time spent running around and playing. Turns out he’s going to have to go under the knife again, this time to remove two lumps.

How did you spend your weekend!?

After wearing a Lou and Chow necklace at Fashion Week (here!), Kate sent me a couple of bangles to wear. Can I just take a moment to say, OH MY GOD! So, while I’m plus size, I don’t have the biggest hands, that being said, I do find it hard to fit some bangles. I was a little worried, as these are made of wood that I wouldn’t fit them over my hand, but they slipped on no problems! Looking at the site, they actually state different sizes! How awesome is that! I believe this is an XL.

Seeing Fox in Flats ‘Pin up Dare‘ inspired me to wear one of my brooches. I love brooches and badges, I have, probably around 50, but I never seem to wear them anymore. I bought this one ages ago, I mean, could you resist a zombie unicorn brooch, but I’ve never worn it.

A few bloggers have been rocking this skirt lately, which just made me want to pull it out of my closet. I’ve only worn it once, which is sad, considering how much I love it. I think I tend to scrap wearing it as where it sits on my waist it tends to make me feel a little frumpy. But so what? When I was taking these photos, the wind came up, and it flowed around me is such a pretty way, that I was super happy that I decided to wear it.

No make up!  After wearing make up so often the past month, I’ve not been wearing aaaaaany for the past week. My skins been thankful for it.

• JUMPER – Millers - HERE
• SKIRT – ASOS Curve
• SHOES – Unif via Solestruck
• BANGLE – c/o Lou and Chow
• BROOCH – Dropdead Gorgeous. You can find it HERE.

Oh, and as you may have noticed, i’ve changed the layout around a little bit. Thoughts?

Do you find your moods affect what you wear?

• EAST CAMP HOME | Barn Owl & Rhino Pillowcase – $138
• TATTY DEVINE | HUGE Dinosaur Necklace - £132.00 This has been on my wishlist FOREVER!
• NOIR JEWELLERY | Highlighter Spike Earrings – $92
• JUICY COUTURE | Laptop Sleeve in Blue – On sale for $ 35.55
• UNIF | Hellraiser shoe in Turquoise – $165
• MIU MIU | Sunglasses – $390 – $495 – Ideally, I’d love the pink, but I also adore the red or silver glitter.
• JONATHAN ADLER | Glitter & Puppy Uppers Canisters – $138
• ZU SHOES – Coppola shoe – On sale for $70 This is the closest i’ll ever come to the real Miu Miu glitter booties I love. 

My black slip just felt to bland, so when I found this purple short slip under one of my other dresses, I instantly knew, that’s it! Originally I had planned to wear my black bra, but it kept popping out and well, didn’t look the best, so I asked what Dani thought about the pink. I think the peek of pink showing kind of tied in with the other pink details of the outfit. It made it look like it was all part of the outfit, rather then ‘oh, your bra is showing’.

• DRESS – c/o The Carpenters Daughter ‘Partee Dress in Navy‘
• PETTICOAT – From some other random dress.
• BRA – Slimform from Best & Less
• SHRUG – City Chic
• BELT – ASOS Curve
• SHOES – A store in New Zealand

A trusted little shrug over the top to add more colour, and to cover my arms. Yeah, my arms are still one thing i’m learning to love about myself. Plus, as we were out pretty late on Friday it helped provide a litttttle bit of warmth. Oh, and of course a belt to define my waist a little. I also had strands of sequins in my hair, which you can kind of make out.

All photos in the post are by Danimezza. Also a HUGE thank you to The Carpenters Daughter for the clothes. <3

Bloggers doing what bloggers do best, social media! Dani & Caitlin

The Saturday after fashion week, Dani was invited to a Style Session show at Westfield Eastgardens, she scored some extra tickets for Caitlin and I to tag along. Whilst I’m admitting things, I’ll let you know, I had no idea who Donny Galella was. All I figured out was that he had worked with Westfields and Gok Wan, and of course I know all about my Fairy Gokmother. It certainly sparked my interest and I’m glad I went because I think i’ve finally seen a stylist at work that has made me want to get up and hi-5 the man.

I know personally, I have a bit of an eclectic style but I do believe I have some sense of style. A lot of things that were said rang true to things I already knew, but I picked up a few tips and tricks. I just had a great time sitting back and watching Donny perform make overs to key wardrobe items. How to take a LBD from day to night, corporate or funky. I did have a piece of paper that listed all the items shown, but for the life of me, I can’t find it. I fell in love with one of the scarves, it was like a colourful rainbow of scarf perfection!

It was fun sitting next to Caitlin, we go for total opposite colour palettes, but i’m slowly learning to think outside of my ‘summer’ box, we’d often kind of look at each other and be like “that’s so awesome”. Many many years ago, I would only ever dress is black and red, sometimes grey would pop into my wardrobe but I had a strict black & red colour palette. The 2 above red & black outfits made my heart ache for the days when I had such a streamlined wardrobe. Oh so good.

Make up artist Rae Morris also gave a talk, which was super fun & interesting to watch. I can be a little hoitey toitey when being told what you ‘should and shouldn’t do’ be it fashion or make up, but some of the tips and tricks she shared was very inspiring. I have to say, she she had THE MOST AMAZING pair of shoes on, and I’m slightly in love with her range of make up brushes! (Note: I’m a beauty school drop out and one thing that was drilled into me was the importance of the right ‘tool’ to create the ‘art’.) Caitlin was pulled up on stage as Rae demonstrated a super easy way to make eyes appear bigger, it worked!

Have you ever been to see a stylist?

Depression sucks. No, really. It sucks you down into this hole, this pit, a deep deep well. It’s dark, you lose hope, you just want to sleep. This pit and I, we go way back. I’ve been visiting for over a decade. I really don’t like it there though, no, but it seems that every now & then I still take a bit of a visit ‘to the dark side’. Not the fun Star Wars dark side. The dark-dark side.

I don’t know if it’s because i’m learning to deal with my emotions more, or if I’m just not feeling as much, but I don’t get depressed as often as I used  to. The only thing is now, that when I do, it hits harder, and it’s more of a struggle to pick myself up and climb out of the pit. I just want to wallow in bed, it’s too hard, i’m too tired, i’m sick of going through this.

But I do. I always do. Some times I come out a little worse for wear. Sometimes I come back even stronger. It’s times like this, when I’m in that pit, that I always try to focus on the little things. Sure, I’m back living at homes with my parents, but you know what, I love them, they are supportive, encouraging and understanding. Plus, it means I can get a hug whenever I want it. Even in all this darkness, I still manage to find little particles of light.

• Frodo.
• My family.
• My Psych.
• Brightly coloured/ pretty patterned nail polish.
• Mail! (Mail, it never fails, it makes me want to wag my tail….)
• Beautiful Sunsets.
• Frodo.
• Long relaxing baths.
• Friends.
• Giving your belly a face. (Totally random, but it amused me!)
• Emails. Especially from blog readers who take the time to let me know that my blog matters.
• Reading in the sun.
• Frodo.

What little things help you through the hard days?

By far the comfiest shoes I own right now, well, comfortable for me to wear! I just have to remember to be careful when I take them off! These are aptly named ‘Hellraisers’ and one of my most expensive shoes, but honestly, they’ve probably made up with cost per wear already. I keep looking at the Black & Turquoise pairs, but can’t justify them. But SO COMFY!

Yes, i’m wearing Leggings as pants, though I am wearing a tunic, so I don’t think it counts, isn’t that what leggings are made for? I can never tell, I just go with the flow and wear what I feel comfortable with. All my lady bits where covered by the tunic and that’s what I usually care about. I’m loving the faux leather / wet look pant/legging trend that is going around at the moment. These babies are from 17 Sundays. I remember seeing Jess wearing them on her blog and knowing I HAD to have them!

I was really happy as I got a few compliments on items I was wearing throughout the day. My necklace was a big hit! I picked it up from Lou and Chow, an Aussie label by Kate Jean, after seeing a post on Weesha’s World! I really couldn’t resist, the necklace just seemed like me in necklace form, colourful & kooky!

These glasses, guh! Words cannot express how awesome I think these glasses are! I think they just made the outfit POP. I think i’m a bright coloured glasses convert! I don’t think I can ever go black to just black frames now.

• JACKET – City Chic
• TUNIC – c/o TS14+
• LEGGINGS – 17 Sundays

• GLASSES – c/o Jono Hennessy 
• NECKLACE – Lou and Chow
• BAG – Restyle
• STACKING RINGS - Sportsgirl
• GEM RING – Forever New
• SHOES – Unif via Solestruck

Big love and thank yous to the talented Dani from Danimezza for taking these outfit pictures for me!!

Looking back now, eh, it’s me. I was in a lot of pain, but I was having fun. I was surrounded by beauty, I love Greenwell Point, no matter how many times I visit, i’m always in awe of how pretty it is. Plus, I love the pelicans. Frodo is still somewhat scared of them, understandable seeing as one of them was nearly as tall as me!

The area has a great walking track, with jetties all along. Mum took some snaps of Caleb and I mucking around on one of our walks with the dogs. Above, he was running to give me a hug… or maybe push me into the water! Oh, and yes, I’m wearing denim! These are the first proper blue jeans i’ve owned in, I don’t know, 10 years! I picked them up on super sale at Dorothy Perkins. While I still find jeans a little weird to wear, they were great for the cold weather.

As far as we know, Emily had never seen water like this before. She found it rather interesting, but wouldn’t go near it. Frodo however was like “water, whatever”. He’s swum in the ocean before, this didn’t bother or interest him in the slightest.

Nobody was hurt in the taking of this picture. I was just pretending to kick him. I’m also out of my boot for the majority of the time now! I just have to wear it at times when my foot is aching, which is great seeing as my back is mucking up! If it’s no one thing, it’s another!

In case you were wondering what i’m wearing, i’ve listed it below. Everything i’m wearing is still available, and if you put ‘DPVIPE‘ into the coupon code you’ll get 25% off. (Expires 20/05/12)

• UNDERSHIRT – Dorothy Perkins
• SHIRT – c/o Dream Diva
• JEANS – Dorothy Perkins 

My sister and I after the show, we walked up the stairs to get a picture of us in from of the stage.

She called back later and I nearly died as she said she got us tickets, at $550 EACH! Needless to say, even after my Uncle putting some money towards them, that I’m still paying back my sisters boyfriend. I love my sister, and getting to share this experience was worth ten times what it cost. Though, that money got us AMAZING seats, a $50 merch voucher, dinner and drinks.

Yes, my sister and I do have the same glasses, just in different colours. Pictures taken by my sister.

Photos weren’t permitted during the performance, and honestly, I was a bit lost in the whole thing to worry. I did take my phone out and take a quick snap at one stage.  We had 2nd row seating! The area in front of us was the tabled seating, which held the likes of Marcia Hines & James Packer. The photo below shows a picture of the stage and an arrow near where we were sitting, we were around 4 seats down. We had a great view, being just that slightly elevated, we could see him where ever he went on the stage!

The show was everything I could have wanted it to be. While a little mishap with his guitar, the performance was great. He really seemed to work off the audience. The man can certainly sing, dance & make music. I could lose hours watching him play guitar. Purple Rain lasted around 15 mintues! You can view the setlist at the end of THIS article.

This is what I intended to wear, though I realised it wasn’t going to drop cold enough for me to wear the jacket and swapped it for a lighter one. Get cold enough already so I can rock it! Dress and Jacket by Damn you Alexis.

I did my nails in Prince colours. Purple base with chunky gold glitter.

And just because I loved how my earrings looked last night! My right ear.

• DOROTHY PERKINS - Bird Print Peplum Top -  £27.00 – I have to admit that I’ve been having a love affair with Dorothy Perkins. I’ve bought a few things from the recently and they keep bringing out stock I love. I even bought a pair of jeans from them! I’ve been loving a lot of things that I would never have seen as ‘me’ months ago. I’ve always loved colours from the ‘cool palette’, but i’ve been drawn to autumn colourings and yes, even cream! Oh, don’t forget to check out DP, they have 20% off shoes at the moment!
• SOLESTRUCK – She Cray - $119 us – I just really love these shoes. Pink, platforms & studs = perfection!
• STYLE369 – Praslin Floral Print Dress – £36.00 - Such a pretty floral printed dress, I’m loving the skater dress trend as I find it suits my shape really well!
• 17SUNDAYS – Bubble Gum Tee – $59.90 – A black tee, that’s not a boring black plain tee. Sheer cap sleeves and faux leather!!
• VIRTU – Bianca Stripe Skirt – $79.95 – I know a few people with this skirt now, but what can I say, i’m a sucker for stripes!
• ASOS - Candy Store Purse - $34 au – These purses come in a range of AMAZING colours. I love the pink, blue, green, yellow… actually, I love all the colours!!
• ASOS CURVE -Leggings with Embellished Panels – $59.50au – Two words, SEQUIN LEGGINGS! Guh! LOVE!
• NASTY GAL - Seeing Spots Bag - $48.20 au – Loving the pop of neon in this bag!