fun in the sun

What a glorious week it's been! I loovvvvveee sunny summer days - I don't know about you, but I wake up instantly happy when the sun is shining through my window. Sweaty and gross and disheveled, but happy!

I also love not working Saturdays! For a while I was rostered on at work pretty much every Saturday, and it suuuuuccckkkkkeddd. Especially when it had been rainy and gloomy all week, but then decided to be sunny and glorious and perfect on the one day I had to work. Stupid weather, (usually) mocking me. Not this weekend though! This weekend was sunny and glorious and perfect and mine!

& what better way to spend such a beautiful day than strolling around Glebe markets, ice-cold fresh sugar cane drink in hand, with one of your besties? I freaking love that place - makes me feel like one of the cool kids! Amazing vintage finds, unique artsy-hand-made-stuff, and dirt cheap new pieces from other people's wardrobes - not to mention the people, the food, the music, and the all round good vibes. And don't even get me started on the cute little cafes and hang out spots that surround it!

I had a particularly good shopping day (you know the finds are good when you're willing to walk 10 minutes to find an ATM to get more money out, despite having already withdrawn money before getting there). While I've never had a bad shopping day at Glebe markets, I only usually pick up maybe 3 or 4 items at most. I ended yesterday with 3 belts, 2 necklaces, 1 cuff, 1 necklace/bracelet in one, 1 pair of clip on earrings, 1 top, 1 dress, 1 pair of overalls, 1 shrug, 1 maxi skirt, and a cute pair of shoe clips.

Let me expand. First of all, I've got to mention that my biggest obsessions this season have been:

1) Cut outs: I've got at least 8 pairs of cutout shoes, and numerous dresses and jackets with cut out detailing. I'm coo-coo for cut outs!

2) Chunky accessories: rings, earrings, necklaces, bangles, cuffs - I never leave home without at least a few pieces on - I feel naked without them!

3) High waist belts: okay so this one's nothing new, but my love affair with high waist belts (especially in black, tan or gold) is still going strong. Perfect way to tie up any outfit!

4) Oversized bags: hanging off the elbow - so chic. Love love love!

This lot of stuff that I picked up yesterday, it ticked ALL the right boxes...

Cut outs: I fell in love with these amazing leather cutout pieces as soon as I saw them! The lady who was selling them hand made them...I wanted to buy EVERYTHING at that stall but, alas, at a minimum price of $30, I had to settle for this beautiful gold-foil cuff ($35), and silver feather cutout necklace ($30). I rationalize my decision by telling myself that: 1) they're made of genuine leather; 2) I'm obsessed with accessories, so I'll surely get loads of wear out of them; 3) I've never seen anything like them before - not many people would have them and I wouldn't be able to get them anywhere else!

Chunky accessories: tribal-style chunky necklace (only $5!), amazing turquoise&gold vintage clip on earrings (also only $5!) & an amazingly unique wire snake bracelet/bangle (which can also unwind & be worn as a necklace/anklet/hairpiece...the possibilities are endless! - $12)

High waist belts: these belts lifted my already soaring spirits - beautiful, unique pieces at absolutely ridiculous prices! I grabbed the dark brown almost medieval style belt, and the tan embossed Oroton belt (both genuine leather) from some girls who were having a wardrobe clean out, for an insane $5 each! They had so much nice stuff at that stall - had they attempted to sell their items on ebay they would have surely made heaps more - they were practically giving their stuff away! Although the belts are a tad looser than I'd normally like, a little DIY work should have them fitting right.
The third is this amazing gold metal embellished high waist belt - $9 - need I say more?


Oversized bag: pictures don't do this birkin-esque bag justice! Genuine leather, made in Italy, suede lining...the weight of it alone made it worth it! and the hidden key & lock...I was sold! The most expensive item of the day at $55...but I couldn't risk leaving it & regretting it later!


These beauties were so cute I HAD to get them even though we were on our way out! Such a cute idea...shoe clips to change the look of your shoes! They had heaps of styles but I'm such a sucker for bling. You can even use them to add some sparkle to clothes, wear them in your hair, or wear them as a necklace! $25 well spent!

Other purchases are as follows:

Black crochet/lace top (new) $35; Ladakh summer dress (new) $10

Floral print prairie-style maxi skirt (which I'm planning to double as a strapless dress with one of my new belts) $7.50 (new with tags)

Amazing Alannah Hill silk beaded ruffle shrug $25 (from the same crazy girls I got the belts from - why would you let this go for only $25?!!)

And finally, overalls...which I think are cool but will probably never wear for fear of being laughed at. Not that that usually stops me lol. $7.50

another shameless plug...

More ebay listings friends! Most of them start at 99cents - so get bidding here!

xx

all in two days' work

I tried to do the responsible thing yesterday by taking half of my money out of my wallet and leaving it at home. It worked pretty well for me yesterday, but probably mainly because I only had an hour of shopping before work for the rest of the day. I scored two dresses, a floral playsuit, and a top (for a crazy $5 each from a little shop outside of Westfields), a necklace & a ring ($10 in total from Collette), and a cute beige vintage blazer from Vinnies (it was marked as $7 but I gave the lady $10 and told her to keep the change - what goes around comes around!).

$5 playsuit

+$10 Blazer
$5 Dress
another $5 dress
yesterday, minus one top (which I gave to my sister), a necklace and a ring (pictured below)

Feeling pleased with my restraint (yes, that's my version of 'restrained'), I splurged on a new Chanel Coco Rouge lipstick (#19, Gabrielle), to replace my old one that I'd misplaced a few weeks ago. It was a big moment for me when I'd purchased my first one - anyone who knows me knows that I: one, don't typically pay full price for things, unless full price is ridiculously cheap & two, don't wear make up all too often - so it seemed quite ridiculous to be forking out $50 on a tiny little stick of product. But A/W 2010 had brought with it a lust for red lips, and who was I to argue with the glossy magazine pages?

I must admit, however that I rarely ended up wearing the original shade I'd picked (Cambon), which was just that little bit too pinkish/bright for my liking. I'd always go to put it on, and then wipe most of it off before leaving the house anyway. Damn my tanned skin. I am however loving this new, deeper shade of red. Of course, it did hurt less spending so much on a beauty product because I didn't actually fork out my own cash - I used a Myer gift cad I'd been given for Christmas haha.

#19-Gabrielle

Anyway, I digress. My attempt at being responsible yesterday wound up getting me into trouble today, when what started as a little shopping trip escalated into a tiny bit of a spree, without me even realising (something I'm only all too familiar with). With the festive season over, and the past few weeks being filled with insane post-Christmas prices, my savings account had dwindled to pretty much nothing (and remained this way until next payday, when the process would repeat itself). So, in short, the cash I had on me was all I had.

I'd started off so well, really thinking about my purchases. I'd look at things, walk over to the mirror and try and picture them on me, think about it, and put them back on the rack, telling myself I didn't need them, or that I had something similar at home. My first few purchases were only little ones: a set of bangles, a cute diary (with a picture of a shoe on it!) & a ring (which I already had in another colour, but wear all the time) from Rubi (at a bargain $2 each!), and a ring, set of 3 pairs of earrings, a necklace, and a bracelet from Collette (for a bargain $10, all up!).

Jewellery (past 2 days)

From there on in I made a conscious note to refuse plastic bags, as I thought back to my recent room clean (think 6 big bags full of plastic/paper). I know, I know, I try to bring enviro bags with me, I promise! I just always forget they're in my bag! lol. So when I made my next three purchases, I didn't even realize, really. Okay, I sort of did, but my mind MAY have been purposely suppressing it haha. A pair of taupe high waist shorts from Paper Scissors to add to the collection ($16 down from $30), another playsuit (which initially I told myself was too expensive considering I had a similar one at home that I paid less for, but then caved because it was so damn cute) from Mink ($45 down to $34), and a loose fit chiffon cape/shrug thingy ($45 down to $20) from Dollygirl.





So, the last real stop (though not by choice) was Zu . I'd had a browse of their website last night and seen some heels & wedges that I'd fallen in love with, and when I saw them in person, they didn't disappoint! At this point I had exactly $90 left in my wallet...which, if it hadn't been sale time, would have gotten me, maybe a pair of Zu flats and a waterproofer, if I was lucky. But it was sale time and they had quite a few pairs under $50, so you could imagine my excitement!

I finally managed to cull it down to two pairs, both leather peeptoes with cutouts (which has been my shoe obsession this season), and both a crazy $45 (from $150 each). One was a chunkier wedge, and the other, a slimmer stiletto. It would have been perfect....but then I decided I wanted the wedge in tan instead of black....which was just that little bit pricier at $60. Normally, not a problem...but with my cash restriction, a big pain in the butt.

I should mention at this point that I was shopping with my other half, who was, by that point, rather tired and grouchy. He, like most other males, just does not get the same thrill out of shopping as we girls do. And by then, he had been through almost three excruciating hours of it. He's normally pretty good, really - drives, holds the bags, randomly offers to pay for stuff - but today he was just that little bit crabby/impatient/over it, standing outside of the store, staring blankly in.

I gesture him in, holding both pairs up. He points at the chunkier pair, thinking that I'm asking his opinion on which I should buy.
'No...I want both of them...' I say.
He grimaces, but replies, 'Do what ever you want...it's your money'
'Uhhhh...about that...'
And then I got a reply that I completely wasn't expecting. He said no. My face must've let on how shocked I was because he followed on with a 'I don't care about the money...I'm just not helping to feed your habit anymore'.
'Haha...very funny...'
His expression didn't change. He was dead serious, and very grumpy about it. Okay, so I have more pairs of shoes then there are days in a year, literally. So what, he knew what he was getting into when he started going out with me.

Eventually he did give in & give me the money. I reassured him that I'd pay him back tomorrow, which just sparked the 'I don't care about the money, keep the money, I just think you have a problem' lecture all over again. So I thought it probably wouldn't be the best time to ask for more money for that bag I was also eying at Zu. Sigh, I suppose it'll have to wait till tomorrow, LOL

shameless plug

Find me on eBay!

http://shop.ebay.com.au/vinhdicated/m.html

and I know how gay/embarrassing the item descriptions are/sound! Give me a break...after literally like, a full day of taking photos, editing & writing, my brain was dead haha

laterz yo.