bird on a wire

Today we visited my grandmother in hospital. She's ok, recovering from hip surgery, but a bit sad about not being around for Christmas family celebrations.

 Dress - Valleygirl

Cardigan - Cotton On

Shoes - Barkin

The hair was an experiment in wrapping braids. I need some more clear snag-free hair elastics so I can hide the tails of the plaits better, but as a prototype I quite like it.

sale away

So, friends and I hit the Boxing Day sales today, and had a lovely time. I keep reassuring myself that one can never have too many dresses... especially since I change my mind about what suits me every 3-5 minutes!
Apologies for drab inside pics, I'm hiding from neighbourhood children who come and bug us if they see us stir outside.

 Shorts - Just Jeans

Top - Lioness

Flats - Factorie

Earrings - Diva

And I've clearly forgotten to smile again! Oops! Let me reassure one and all that I am high on a wave of joyful retail therapy! :)

cut it out!

We hosted Christmas lunch at the new house! It was very hot and humid, especially with a glazed ham in the oven, so I was glad for a dress with ventilation. It's not my usual colours (too brown for me unless I've got a tan), and the cut outs are a little trashy! However, despite the odds, I kind of love this dress.
Excuse the somewhat manic and animated pics - there's a storm about to break and it's like crack to me!

 Dress - Ally

I hope everyone had a wonderful and joyful Christmas, and that there are enough leftovers that nobody needs to cook until at least Tuesday!

Christmas Eve

So, I decided that a different hairstyle a new outfit makes!
Clothes as previous post.

...and it's holidays!

Finally, the work year has ended for me. Today we had a staff Christmas lunch - a nice, mild, alcohol-free affair. My dietary requirements were unfortunately not catered for particularly well (enter rant about why gluten-eating people seem to think I will be satisfied by a lunch that would not satisfy them), but the company was lovely so I can deal.

Dress - Just Jeans

Sandals - Target 

Now I have to think of something new to wear to my family Christmas Eve party! Does a different hairdo count as a different outfit...?

take a bow

Bow-front Dress - Pure Hype

Lace-back cardigan - Portmans

Belt - Just Jeans

Bow flats - rubi

Hair bows - Factorie

Too tired to think of anything useful to write! Christmas is a-coming!

in the navy

One is fighting off a cold. I am determined to take no leave, as I will have a little holiday soon, and work is winding down. Cold n Flu tablets are wonderful, but I feel a little like a spaced out ghost at the moment!

This little dress has been lurking in my wardrobe for months. I picked it up at Fashion Treasure markets during winter, and it really doesn't work with stockings... and it's that funny vintage synthetic fabric, so is too sticky to wear if it's really hot. Today was rainy and 22, so perfect.

 Dress - Vintage

Cardigan - Cotton On

Shoes - EOS

Belt - eBay

The hair is very similar to my formal up-do (here), but I did an inside out braid first to really make a feature of the "plait". The last one I did was a normal braid where the "plait" part is hidden. It makes me think of the braided Easter bread our Greek neighbour used to make use when I was a kid.
Anyway, it's a very effective up-do for getting it all out of the way, and if you're a competent braider, it takes very little time and looks way more complicated that it is. It's just a full braid that you keep to one side of the head, and start to curve towards the nape of the neck toward the bottom, then finish plaiting the tails, curve back up the other side of the head and scroll inwards (like a spiral) and pin. And hairspray A LOT. Maybe I'll do a tutorial when I'm on leave in a few weeks and have more time!

In these pics you can see our new "formal" living room, which we've just semi-furnished. Fortune smiled and a friend is moving and needed to dispose of two leather lounges in a very similar colour to our new one. Of course, I haven't hung my mirror yet, but it's at a good height for shoe pics!