Girls Gone Wild... Op Shopping

During the uni holidays Nikki and I went on a few op shop adventures. While I love to frequent the ops and often just go for a quick browse, N and I were on a mission: prom was fast approaching and we needed dresses.

I realise in Australia we usually call the ‘Prom’ a ‘Formal’ and being in our early 20s, we were about six years late on the prom dress shopping. But our temporary insanity wasn’t without reason, we were planning a massive 80s Prom Party for two of our dear friends, and what’s Prom without a fantastic dress (or in the ‘80s a fantastically foul dress)? So our op shop missions were focused on hunting down taffeta, shoulder pads and lace.

We went deep into the ‘burbs tracking taffeta and our search led us into some terrifying moments in Ipswich and Logan. (For those of you who don’t know, Ipswich and Logan are surrounding ‘cities’ of Brisbane. Ipswich in particular is an older, quite quaint town, as long as you stay in the main street. Mostly ‘The Switch’ and Loganville are the native habitats of the boganis, a demoralising mutant strain of Australian rednecks, also known as bogans.)

Nevertheless we had a great time sifting through the op shops while taking in the local culture and sights. We also had fun ‘checking in’ to the places we visited on Facebook, like the Ipswich Magistrates Court, Centrelink, and the Ipswich cemetery. We had a gourmet meal of Hungry Jacks for lunch (dine in!) and even sped away from a Lifeline like criminals escaping with hot loot (really we just mistook the warehouse for an actual store and were scared of the creepy workwear clad men giving us weird looks). I even scored the macramé owl from Friday’s post for $2. 

But it wasn’t until we ventured to Logan that we both found our Prom dresses. Being a Saturday morning, N decided to take a little break from dress shopping to try her hand at some sports instead. I swear, it was the most fun I have ever had watching sport. I think fishing is the winner, N. Perhaps I should pop down and buy you the red fishing rod?

xo

Wardrobe Door Makeover

Before:

After:

One day in an uncharacteristic bout of fitness enthusiasm I was out on a walk. After an hour of powering along the Brisbane River, I was winding through my neighbourhood on my way home and I passed an old wooden wardrobe door leaning up against a retaining wall on the side of the road.

Of course, I stopped walking and wandered over to inspect this discarded, somewhat useless item that someone had clearly placed there for anyone who wished to take it. The door was just made out of cheap pine and looked like it had been there on the side of the road for awhile. So I decided that I didn't need it, trying to convince self that I didn't want to turn into one of those people who just collect all manner of random useless things and never do anything with them, and I kept on walking.

Not five steps later, I had a brilliant idea, ran back and grabbed the door and carried it half a kilometre home, which garnered a lot of weird looks from people.

I sanded it back, bought some paint and turned it into a whole new amazing blackboard, for just under $30. It currently lives in my lounge room and is always adorned with favourite quotes and song lyrics. I have also been known to use it for birthday wishes for my housemates and friends and particularly exciting countdowns (like Christmas).
xo

PS Props to whoever can tell me what song the current quote is from. I need song title, artist and album... GO!

Treasure Hunting Spoils

Hello lovelies!

I do apologise that my self-imposed study hiatus turned into a slightly more extended break than originally planned. I spent my mid year uni holidays mostly kicking around Brisbane searching for treasure and hanging with my friends, so I will also share some of those adventures with you all over the coming weeks.

Now it’s the first week back at school and my last semester before I graduate at the end of the year. I’m feeling a little nostalgic about finishing my degree and also terrified about going out into the real world and being a grown up! But for now I’m feeling inspired and ready to share my crafty ideas with you all.

Below is one of my favourite op shop treasures that I have brought home over the last month or so, and is now hanging in my lounge room. And, as usual, costing just $2, it is pure bargain gold!

Long live ‘70s macramé!

xo

Even Lions May Fall...

... and this Lioness is teetering dangerously close to the edge.

Alibrandi launched the film clip for their debut single 'Even Lions May Fall' today. What with the hardships of a sub editor combined with looming-assessment-deadline induced panic, watching this was the only fun thing Katie Day did today.

As a result of this feeling of impending doom over my unfinished assignments, I am taking myself AWOL until the weekend. By then I will (hopefully) have handed my final assessments in and will be officially free from university for the semester. I am also very much looking forward to celebrating this ecstatic feeling of freedom on Friday night with Alibrandi at the Zoo supporting No Quarter (June 10). If you are in Brisbane come and have a glass of bubbly with me!

Until then, I foresee endless coffee, barely any sleep and panic attacks by the dozen. Here's hoping I make it.
xo

Caldo Verde

  

Another of my truly amazing vegan creations cooked straight from the delicious Veggie num num. I made a few minor alterations, mostly due to supermarket limitations. Instead of marjoram I used rosemary and oregano, and as I am not a fan of vego sausages, I chose to use sautaed mushrooms rather than sausages or eggplant. For the greens I just used a whole packet of spinach diced, and as per the original I served with fresh lemon squeezed over and drizzeled with olive oil.

Oh my, it was amazing! Topped off with some left over Turkish bread from breakfast, this delicious winter warming soup was like a little hearty party for my tastebuds. Try it, you won't be disappointed!

xo

Scrumptious Breakky squared.

One of my favourite things about the weekends is breakfast. During the week I usually scarf down breakfast as I am running out the door or doing my makeup, or in front of my computer at work, if I even eat it at all. But on the weekend, I love sitting and having a cup of coffee and some toast or cooking up a delicious feast.

I think I outdid myself with brunch yesterday and best of all, it was totally spontaneous. My lovely friend Suz called me to say she was in the neighbourhood and as fate would have it, I actually had food in the house to offer her.

We fried up mushrooms, garlic and Spanish onion, served on a bed of spinach, with fresh avocado seasoned with lemon juice and salt, (TRY IT!) fried free range eggs, topped off with fresh Turkish bread. It was the most delicious brunch I have had in a long time! And it's always so much nicer cooking for someone, rather than just myself.

The Turkish bread was also awesome this morning for breakfast, toasted and slathered in butter and vegemite, a childhood favourite that I will never get sick of.

All in all, it's been a good weekend breakfast-wise.
xo

Quick moisturiser fix.

I love moisturiser, especially in winter. And I tend to put it on right before going to bed, but consequently my bedside table becomes littered with all manner of hand and body creams, and that just looks ugly and untidy.

I had a brainwave last night to transfer the moisturiser into a cute little jar (I have a stash of empty ones in the cupboard) so that I could leave it on my bedside table always, and not hate how ugly the bottle of Palmers Cocoa Butter looked next to my sweet alarm clock, vintage doileys and pile of penguins. I painted the lid with remnants of a sample pot, tied some string around and viola ... perfection
xo