Boxing Day Sale Treats

In Australia, the one day of the year that is fantastic for scoring jaw dropping sales is Boxing Day. Some go just for the sake of looking, others go because they have things they need that are normally far too expensive! Normally during Boxing Day, I avoid the shops and spend the day lounging around chilling out, watching tv etc etc. But this year I was lured by the sales and went shopping. I joined some friends bright and early (9am to be exact!) at Westfield's Doncaster store to take advantage of the sales.

Whenever anything is on sale, for some reason I don't like it. But this Boxing Day I actually found some pretty cool things (that I actually needed as well). I've created a little scoreboard of what I went home with. As you can see, I spent the majority of my time at Peter Alexander. They are usually to expensive for my uni student budget so I definitely stocked up on their super cute intimates!

#1/#2 & Ice Cream Knicker in Cone @ Peter Alexander | | #3 7 Day Knicker Funday Set @ Peter Alexander | | #4 Ipanema Thongs in Red Polka Dots (also super cute in blue!) @ Novo Shoes | | #5 Salon Effects in 'Kitty Kitty' @ Sally Hansen 

Before I went I made a mental note of things I needed so I wouldn't overspend. I didn't stray once and was pretty damn happy with my purchases. I even ended up buying some suncream as while I was driving around on Christmas Day, I managed to cop some wicked painful "driver's burn" on my arm. I lathered up on the stuff when I got back into the car for the drive home!

I also learned a few things, which I am going to tuck away for next year. The major one being starting super early (as in way before 9am!), bring some water and comfy shoes, and get some suncream for the driver there and back (depending on the weather of course!). Being patient while waiting in ques and trying to find a car park also helps. I spent most of the time in the ques at Peter Alexander singing along to the songs they played which made the shopping trip more enjoyable and go quicker!

Christmas shopping: done and dusted!

Apart from my birthday and Halloween, Christmas is my favourite time of the year. It's the best time to indulge in baking (and eating) all those gorgeous little treats (bonbons, cupcakes, cake, mince pies, oh how the list goes on) and shopping (of course!).

I know it's only October, but this year my Christmas shopping for my immediate family has been done and dusted, with thanks to online shopping. And yes, a majority of those stores were from the United Kingdom. I have to say though, shopping online can be just as exhausting as it is in the actual store! Some reasons why:

> Registering an account.
This can be a huge pain especially if you are an international shopper. They don't recognise your home address or your telephone number! What to do?! You have to find tricky ways around it to ensure they have all your details in the form.

> Converting.
Oh God. Conversion rates! I'm rubbish with maths. I really am terrible, so I have to open up xe.com on another tab and quickly do a conversion to see how much it will be in AUD and if I have enough in my account. Then you have to log onto NetBank.

> Decisions.
The one thing I find really really great about online shopping are the reviews and the descriptions. You need to read them all to see exactly what people think about that product. You don't want to spend lots of money on an item to find out it won't work properly, or look the way it does on the screen.

Apart from those three main troubles I have with online shopping, I still love it. Everyone loves getting mail! It's even better when the item you purchased fits exactly. You don't have to deal with the massive rush in the stores and snotty customer service staff. Yes, it's a wee bit antisocial, but that's the way it's going. I'd take online shopping any day!

Shopping in London. So much shopping!

So, I totally lied about my holiday in London. I told everyone that I wasn't going to get stuck in London and not go anywhere. Biggest lie ever. I spent a majority of my time in London drinking with my mates, being hungover, shopping (OMG SHOPPING!) and chilling out in parks on sunny afternoons.

I did do some sightseeing. I saw Hampton Court Palace, Windsor Castle and the Natural History Museum. Then I went to Amsterdam with Camilla and went to the Cat Museum (yes there is a real one, though it felt like we were in our Grandmother's living room and she showed us her cat collection), where I was far more excited about the resident cats curled up in the corners sunning themselves and the Museum of Bags and Purses (which was by far one of the most awesome museums I've been in).

But SHOPPING. Oh bless my little heart and my bank account, I shopped my heart out. From the moment I decided to go and purchased my ticket, I swore to myself I wasn't going to buy any clothes until I went away (this was at least 6 months people!) and the only dress I did purchase was from Miss Selfridges and that was a sexy, red strappy thing for my birthday.

These are the shops I was obsessed with:

Fat Face.
This store has some gorgeous little gems in it. All are ridiculously comfortable and pretty floral prints. Their Autumn collection was a winner on all fronts. They have comfy cotton dresses for hot summers and wickedly comfortable sweaters and hoodies (which I lived in at night when it got chilly). All are reasonably priced and the staff are sexy.

Art of Joy.
All the clothes look better in person - trust me. The dresses are sexy tea dresses, glamorous evening dresses, slouchy comfortable sweaters (and cute little cardigans (all of which are going towards my next pay check as they sell to Oz) as well as quirky homewares.

TopShop.
When I woke up on the first Saturday I was in London, I jumped on the tube and got off at Oxford Circus. As I walked up the staircase I saw the gorgeous, massive store logo in all it's wonderful glory aiming closer to me like a beacon of light. As soon as I went in I purchased some awesome shoes (trust me I'm a horrible person to shop for as my feet are super tiny and I loathe shoe shopping in the first place). They were the first thing I saw and were a perfect fit. So I had to get them. Other neat finds were some cute, simple dresses which are perfect for work (and play) and some cute tanks. All reasonably priced.

H & M.
I'm so sad that yet another wonderful store isn't offered on my side of the equator. H &M offers ridiculously cheap, trendy, pretty and comfortable clothing. I think I (once again) stocked up on their Autumn line which includes a gorgeous cat print jumper, a couple of tea dresses with prints and colours I adore as well as a Ciao shirt which made me remind myself of Brooke and the whole 'Ciao' debacle back in 2007.

La Senza.
La Senza has on offer some gorgeous lingerie at affordable prices. They often have 5 knickers for $20 (etc) which is such a good price because at this store, I can never decide on just the one pair and end up with about 10 of them. All extremely comfortable (to the point you don't know if you are wearing anything) and sexy. The prints are far too cute to say no too!

Tatty Devine.
Tatty Devine is an independent London jewelry designer. She sells quirky pieces you'll never find anywhere else. I purchased the cat rings (super cute no?) and am waiting patiently for when the mermaid necklace (which is at the moment a once off piece for London Fashion Week) becomes available to the public and the name neclaces which are gorgeous.

I can tell (for the next few months at least) that I am going to be doing a lot more online shopping!

London baby!

After a very very long flight, I arrived on time in London at Gatwick airport. My friend Camilla picked me up at victoria station and we made the trek home. She is one of my besties and I met back in 2007 in a hostel at London Bridge. It was very exciting to see her again! We spent the first night catching up and eating.

On the Saturday, I had a massive sleep-in, then trekked it Oxford Circus for some basics and beauty items etc. Probably not the best idea when I was still jet-lagged, but it hadn't really hit me properly yet. I felt right at home being back in TopShop, which is rather ridiculous. I purchased a pair of Mary Janes with a double strap for only £28 which was a total bargain. I was so excited to find a pair of 5 1/2 straight off the bat! they are very comfortable as well. :)

Later in the evening, we met up with some of her friends and went to a Walkabout; which is a pub many Australians go to. I really don't like Walkabout as it reminds me of a really bad RSL from back home. But the 'UV bubble party' they had on that night sounded fun so off we went. We scored some cheap cocktails, danced a bit and were hit on in the two most awful ways by a couple of drunk, Australian men. The bubbly party just ended up being a few bubbles floating above the crowd on the dance floor. We popped in the crowd and decided we really didn't like it. But we danced a bit more and then my jet-lag kicked in, so we left soon after.

On the Sunday, I met up with my wonderful Canadian friend, Charmaine (I also met her at the same hostel as Camilla), and we had an amazing brunch at The Breakfast Club near Brick Lane markets. I was famished and loved it. The décor was funky and had a sort of rock n roll diner feel to it. I had a porridge with fresh berries and honey as well as a large cup of tea. I found it reasonably priced and the food was amazing! I am definitely going back there.



We then explored Brick Lane markets. I've never been on a Sunday so didn't realise just how massive it was! I decided that as it was my first weekend, I didn't want to blow my money away so quickly, so I just had a look at what was on offer so I could come back before I go home and actually buy things. Having said that, I came away with a necklace with a cute pink diamante car pendant on it and some amazing Lemon Sherbet tea. They had some really cute dresses and lots of jewelery available. There were quite enthusiastic about vintage clothing as well which was interesting to see. One of the vintage stores even had a resident cat there. She was very cute. (I'm a sucker for cats!)