The zebra and the Shard

the-shard-11Wearing – Gorman jumper (love this bralet – perfect for Broome!), Madewell shirt, Urban Outfitters skirt (a faux leather option), Wolford merino tights, Camper shoes, Kate Spade necklace

Just shortly before going on holiday, we watched a Doctor Who episode that featured this glass-clad skyscraper as the headquarters for an alien organisation that was trapping people in its WiFi and converting them into energy (make sense?). It was quite an exciting episode and I can’t quite seem to translate that into plain words, but that might have something to do with the pyrotechnics and motorcycle ride straight up the side of the Shard that made it more thrilling.

I was half expecting to see Matt Smith aka the Doctor during our visit to this glistening modern day pyramid. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be, but we still had a great view over the centre of London city – we were so high up that even large structures such as the Tower Bridge were dwarfed! See if you can spot some landmarks in our photos below! Also, I’m not quite sure what possessed me, perhaps I was having such a good time or it’s quite possible that the cold had cut off all circulation to my brain and I’d become delirious – but I decided that it was perfectly appropriate to have a little dance around the viewing platform. The incriminating evidence is below!the-shard-18 the-shard-17the-shard-14the-shard-12 the-shard-10 the-shard-9 the-shard-8the-shard-5the-shard-3 the-shard-2 the-shard-1 shard_dance1v2the-shard-1-2the-shard-19

Red letter day – Hyde Park

red-hyde-park-1Wearing – Marcs dress (this season’s version), Wolford merino tights, Madewell boots

This red dress is one of my favourites. Gorgeous colour, great shape and fabric, and a skirt that falls just so. So why does it often hang neglected and overlooked in my closet? Well, this dress has “history”. I bought it last year for one express purpose – for an exam. And not just any old exam. For the single most scariest exam I’ve ever done in my whole entire life. No joke. Just thinking about the whole process leading up to it and the day itself is giving me the heebie jeebies. Thank God I passed, but even so the entire experience was so traumatic that my hand would try not to linger over its hanger whenever I came across it in my wardrobe, and I’d always find an excuse to wear something else.

Well, it’s been eight months since that-day-which-shall-no-longer-be-mentioned and I decided that it was time that the curse be lifted. And once I slipped this dress back on, I realised what a fool I’d been to let it languish behind lesser dresses. It’s effortlessly elegant, can be dressed up or down, and is so so soooo comfortable.

On another note, this was one of the few days during our holiday that I could venture safely out without a heavy coat in tow. We’d just eaten at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (for free!) and just hopped across the street into Hyde Park to enjoy the snippet of sunshine and admire the daffodils and giNORmous white swans. They’re twice the size of our black swans! The sunshine, the greenery and the sugar high we were still on made for a lovely, laughter-filled afternoon (probably more like giggles and snorts) and off we trotted on our merry way.
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Hello London!

london-16Wearing – Madewell jumper, Urban Outfitters jeans (similar), Happy Socks, Madewell boots

Barely had I recovered from the fun whirlwind of cake and conversations that was my birthday party, then we were packing our bags (in a very frantic manner) and flying off to London for the first leg our holiday. It was the perfect way to celebrate entering a “new age of maturity” (haw haw haw, I just lol-led at that, meh!) and also to attend a very good friend’s wedding in France! Double yay!

Jinn booked us in (as a surprise!) to stay at the gorgeous Langham Hotel, which is just around the corner from the string of shops along Oxford St. Great views over London, fluffy feather pillows, and countless shops just a wee hop-step-jump away – ooh yeah!london-19 london-10 london-6 london-11 london-1 london-9 london-14 london-15 london-18 london-17 london-7 london-8 london-2 london-3 london-4 london-5 london-21 london-22 london-23

There’s no place like home…

comptoir-11Wearing – Comptoir des Cotonnieres dress, Urban Outfitters belt, Repetto shoes, K is for Kani floral crown, bracelets from SoWeAre

I write the title of this post while I’m once again many many miles away from my home in Perth. After having such an amazing time overseas, I’m now already back in Broome (highlights of the holiday – getting to spend three whole weeks with Jinn, watching Matilda the Musical at the Cambridge Theatre, getting the chance to catch up with a whole bunch of besties at the wedding of the century in France, singing in the most beautiful cathedral for this fairytale wedding [the acoustics!], driving on the “wrong” side of the road through the green rolling hills of Brittany trying my hardest not to freak out, and of course foodfoodfood and shoppingshoppingCHANELflagshipstoreshopping!). Wow, that bracketed sentence was so long I think I forgot what I was originally saying…

Oh yeah, so we’d had an incredible three weeks overseas that was so absolutely jam-packed (except for that one night we ate instant noodles, yep) that by the end of it I was admittedly longing for my bed, my garden, my coffee machine, and just the comfort that being totally at home brings. No needing to rush around to see or do something “because you might never come back here again!”, no struggling to say something quite unintelligibly in a foreign language, no wars with maps/evil GPS machines. Travelling is awesome, but there’s something pretty cool about knowing where everything is and being able to stroll down to your local cafe to grab a bite and a coffee then sitting in your own backyard listening to the birds sing.

So that’s what we did during the 39 hours I was back in Perth for. Oh and of course there’s always time for a quick little outfit post! The perfectly temperate yet sunny weather so typical of Perth was the ideal accompaniment to this sweet denim (Paris-bought!) dress and K is for Kani floral crown that was yet another birthday gift from Jinn! It was just so nice to be able to wander outside without at least three layers and a big coat on! Does anyone else get super sick of their “big coat” when they go travelling to cold places? I hate wearing the same thing everyday, plus it covers up the rest of your awesome outfit!

Apologies for not posting during our holiday but we were seriously that busy and our internet particularly patchy. But do you know what that means? Many many more posts to come shortly…!

Bisous!

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***Bee-day!***

IMG_3655I had an absolute blast celebrating my birthday in the presence of my beautiful family and friends! I have to mention the gorgeous cake that my mum decorated with fresh flowers for me that actually featured a David Austen rose from my own garden – now that’s a personalised touch. The other absolute highlight was the gift I received from Rani, by eldest sis-in-law (mum to the gorgeous children you see below) who presented me with two illustrations she’d done herself, one of which was a picture of myself! Seriously, what an incredible talent she has, not to mention a heart of gold. All these things really only start to describe what a special day I had and I can honestly say that I felt truly loved.

P.S. Mumsy’s the one in the particularly blingy dress – she’s no shrinking violet. No guesses where I get my love of all things shiny from!
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Shine bright like a diamond

rachel-gilbert-birthday-1Wearing – Rachel Gilbert dress, Mno.logie clutch, earrings via Black Beret, Christian Louboutin pumps

As promised, here’s a look at what I wore to my 30th birthday celebration! I’d been obsessing over this Rachel Gilbert dress from afar for quite some time (2226km to be exact!) and couldn’t wait for the chance to try it on. I had my heart set on wearing this (as you would have seen here) and had already started conjuring up how I would style it but also didn’t want to get my hopes up too high in case there was something amiss with the fit or colour and that my poor little heart would be broken. I had absolutely nothing to fear as I tried it on in store – it fit like a glove! I absolutely fell in love with the combination of the sweetheart neckline and fitted pencil silhouette and most of all the sheer netting encrusted with pearls and sequins. Just the right amount of bling. 🙂

I’d also been lusting over this clutch for a while and to my surprise and happy amazement it was waiting for me at home when I got back to Perth. It was an early birthday present from Jinn – thanks sweetheart! He knows me too well, it’s such a great colour – the neon green really pops. And best of all it came personalised with “Belongs to Sarah” on it! Mine mine mine!

It was a lovely evening and certainly felt the love from all my family and friends who came that night. It was the perfect opportunity to catch up with everyone as I’d been out of Perth for two months, and to be honest I barely had time to snatch a breath between hugs, kisses and high-speed-highly-excited recaps from all the guests. I can’t wait to share more party photos! We’ve been whirling around the French countryside, enjoying the wedding of the century (so beautiful and so FUN! So much champagne, so much dancing!) and now we’ve finally settled in for the final leg of our holiday in Paris where we will be catching our breath, taking in a few galleries, and of course many a croissant et baguette! (Oh hello, Laduree!)
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InstaRecap – London + Edinburgh

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View from our window 🚌🚕🏤😊

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As you can see we’ve been tearing around London like lunatics trying to soak in all the sights and eat as many pastries as possible, all whilst resisting the urge to curl up into a small but very warm ball, especially when some nights have been just one little degree Celsius! And remember I’ve been basking (sweating) in 35 degree Broome weather up til now! Jinn organised a sneaky birthday surprise for me and reserved us a room at the luxurious Langham Hotel which was just beautiful and also dangerously close to all the shopping on Oxford St. He knows me too well…

There will be many many more posts to come, I promise. But whilst there are that many things to see and numerous cupcakes to eat plus a wedding in France this Saturday (eek! So soon!), I’m afraid the posts will be a little sporadic. That, and I may possibly lose a finger or two if it gets any colder!

Ciao for now 🙂

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More bee-day spoilt goodness at the hotel 😘😘😘

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Gustatory pleasure #heston #blumenthal #london #travel #food #instagood

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Hyde Park on a fine but chilly Spring day #london #travel #instagood

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View of the tip of The Shard #london #travel #instagood

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Get in mah belleh! #burgertime #hungry #food #instafood #london #travel

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1, 2, 3. Being spoilt by Jinn at The Langham.

4. Watching Matilda at Covent Garden.

5. At The Victoria & Albert Museum for the David Bowie exhibition – it was phenomenal.

6, 7. Paying Heston a visit…Meat fruit!

8. Strolling through Hyde Park (and attempting to burn off that meat fruit :P)

9, 10. View of the Shard and from the Shard.

11, 12, 13, 14. The Borough food markets which we just happened to stumble across near the base of the Shard.

15, 16, 17, 18. Being a bit touristy.

19. Lichtenstein at Tate Modern.

20. What I did whilst Jinn waited in line at Record Store Day. Ate (and delivered) cupcakes!

21, 22, 23. More wandering.

24. Reliving our past with a quick zip through Edinburgh. (We were last here seven years ago for a month as medical students!)

My birthday suit – Little Miss Mon Bon

bdaysuit-monbon1A gorgeously colourful ensemble picked out by Monique Ceccato from Little Miss Mon Bon graces our blog this week! Monique is a fellow Perthite who has a keen eye for all things fashionable and quirky, and never shies away from a bright colour or loud print – I love it! In a world full of uniformly black-clad people we need more Mon Bons!

Be sure to check out her blog!

It’s been a lot of fun getting to see inside the brains of some of Perth’s creatives/bloggers/fashionistas each week. I love seeing how different people express themselves, it says so much to me about their inner personalities and it’s altogether fascinating. I hope you’re liking them too!

1. Ellery dress, 2. Botkier bag, 3. Lime Crime lipstick, 4. Dinosaur Designs vases (here and here), 5. The Prize bracelet, 6. Asos sandals

Fresh Prince + Kanken Mini

kanken-outfit-11Wearing – Karen Walker t-shirt, Urban Outfitters jeans (a personalised pair!), Steve Madden loafers, Urban Outfitters cap, Thomas Sabo earrings, Kanken Mini backpack

When I arrived back in Perth over Easter, lo and behold there were a couple of little packages awaiting for me to unwrap thanks to my ever thoughtful Jinn. And somehow they were also amazingly colour-coordinated! After hearing how I’d sunburnt my scalp during a fishing trip he went and picked out this crazy cool, Fresh Prince inspired cap from Urban Outfitters. I then opened the parcel that contained my long-awaited pink Kanken Mini to find that they were instant fashion-BFFs.

They instantly jazzed up my super comfy plane outfit that consisted of my latest favourite Karen Walker tee and ever present coloured skinny jeans. I don’t know about you but no matter how long or short a flight, I must travel in extreme comfort – no waist bands that cut in or itchy materials for me! Stretchy cotton all the way!

How do you travel in style and comfort?kanken-outfit-3 kanken-outfit-4 kanken-outfit-5 kanken-outfit-6kanken-outfit-16 kanken-outfit-7 kanken-outfit-8 kanken-outfit-9 kanken-outfit-10kanken-outfit-12 kanken-outfit-13 kanken-outfit-14 kanken-outfit-15kanken-outfit-2

Black + tan

neuw-denim-13Wearing – Cameo t-shirt, Neuw jeans (similar), ASOS belt, Country Road wedges, Karen Walker Eyewear sunglasses (in tortoise shell), vintage handbag (try this one)

I managed to duck down to Perth for a not-so-quiet weekend over Easter. I welcomed the slightly cooler and much less humid weather, and was so happy that all my neglected pairs of skinny jeans got to come out, come out to play! A different colour for each day!

My mission on Saturday was to procure myself a suitable birthday outfit, and so I hotfooted it down to the Black Beret boutique in Mount Lawley. They carry such an amazing selection of clothing from the hottest Australian designers – it was all I could do to stay focussed! Well, I admit, not only did I successfully pick out a stunning dress for my birthday (can’t wait!) but I did walk away with a little extra something-something-you-know-to-wear-to-that-wedding-in-December-yeah-that’s-right.neuw-denim-10 neuw-denim-9 neuw-denim-5 neuw-denim-6 neuw-denim-4 neuw-denim-11neuw-denim-12neuw-denim-1 neuw-denim-2 neuw-denim-8 neuw-denim-3neuw-denim-7