41 hours in Melbourne

At the Art Gallery- not quite fitting...

Super angles

I really wanted to put out heads in here and have our photo taken but my boyfriend went walkabout. Seems a bit lame to do it yourself.

Ahhh...the famous Melbourne lanes. Sydney DOES seem a bit bland in comparison.

Johnny can be so silly sometimes. Instead of taking the amazingly decorated archway he just took this of me.

3 cups and no girls in sight.

How great are these colours? It was as it someone had perfect placed these milk crates to look like they were trying to run away.

Who am I kidding? I basically wanted to go down to Melbourne to eat at Flowerdrum again. And it was worth it. Especially when they accidentally gave us two desserts. So much for portion control.

I didn't realise the sun set over the water at St Kilda. Too bad it almost blinded Johnny. We had dinner at Ichi Ni which is super cute and has a great view.

Berlin Bar is one of my highlights. Set in Chinatown, you head up the stairs and knock and wait for a hostess to come greet you. I knew I'd love this place when waiting up the top of the stairs there was a sign saying that if you have more then 8 in your group you may not be catered for. Perfect- bars want to be 'intimate' but not enough go to lengths to create that.

The bar is divided into East Berlin and West Berlin each completely themed. East Berlin was a bit emo so we opted for the glamorous West. Gotta mention the toilets too- love the snow covered houses.

I don't care if we were at the Casino, these giant Chinese New Year decorations are fabulous!

Johnny wanted to watch Australia vs Japan in the Asian up finals so we did. What seemed like ten hours later, the guy in the fore ground sums up the night.

Little Creatures on Brunswick Street. What a lifesaver in 40 degree heat! The most exciting part were the tiny beer/cider servings that had. Asian size!

Mr Squiggle, I love you.

St Ali's is the bomb and so is Tori for taking us there. Coffee in siphons, amazing service, to die for food, you have to taste it explain it Fruit Tingle juice, and really really great menu copy. #WIN.

When it's 40 degrees outside your pretty helpless. Thank god for art galleries.

I love this water feature. I think I stood there for a good 10 minutes watching the people behind it and pretending they were watercolour paintings.

I found saw what people loved about Melbourne. It was such a whirlwind trip but all thanks to Johnny who whisked me away and spoilt me the whole weekend!

Happy Valentines Day

Sometimes when I wander down King Street I find myself in stores when I really don't need to be at all. I often find myself in one particular store which has walls covered in these Able & Game quirky cards. Don't you think they're super sweet?

When I was in Melbourne I found myself at Rose Street Markets and there was a stall with the whole range and lots of other bits and pieces. It was so great to see that it wasn't mass made.

How are you spending this Valentines Day? A couple of years ago my best friend Johnny and I decided we were going to spend Valentines Day together for the rest of our lives no matter what(pending location of course). We've let our partners of know course but all in all it makes things alot easier!

Hello Vietnam....again

Remember that weird country that I packed up my life and moved to only to come home to Sydney 5 months later? Well, in a weird twist of fate Vietnam and I shall meet again.

This time, Johnny has gone off and gotten himself a fancypants job in Hanoi. That means that in April, I'll be saying "I don't want a farewell!", packing up my life again, and going over to join him.

I'm scared and excited.....

Madeline Swing Dress

I'm no fashion blogger but I had to take this shot to show you this dress I bought on the weekend. I tried it on hoping it would look crap but once I did i knew I had to get it. It's from Forever New and has both tulle and lining as well as boning (what is it called when it's not actually made of bone?). LOVE.

P.s. In case you're wondering about the bear picture my boyfriend bought it for me because he thought it was hilarious (which it is!).

Trocadero Dance Palace

Let it be known that I LOVE Sydney Festival. This year seemed a little less exciting then previous years but in fact it is by far the standout for two reasons- Cobblestone Jazz at Becks Festival Bar (I'm still thinking about it!) and The Trocadero Dance Palace.

I'm not going to do this event justice by explaining, so I'll give you the Sydney Festival description that sparked my curiosity:

Sydney’s original Trocadero had its heyday in the 1940s and 50s with lindy-hoppers, swingsters, rockabillies and cha cha cha-ers dancing the nights away in all their finery. It was demolished in the 70s but its spirit jives on in our gloriously re-imagined new night club – Trocadero Dance Palace.

For four nights only, the Festival transforms the newly refurbished Sydney Town Hall into swing-dancing heaven. Our Troc features a huge dance floor, a fabulous floorshow and sizzling swing music played by Sydney’s spectacular all-girl Sirens Big Band, just as it did in its halcyon days – but with plenty of 2011 edge.

An inexhaustible team of dancers will inspire and challenge you to burn up the floor. We’ll even give you dance lessons so everyone can join in!

So shine up your dancing shoes, get frocked up, grab a partner and head on down to George Street to soak up the atmosphere and energy of Sydney’s newest/oldest night club – Trocadero Dance Palace.

Think that sounds amazing? It's cause it was. The night was perfectly planned and the excitement and buzz in the air was contageous. There were swing dancers who couldn't wait to get on the dance floor, gorgeous girls who were frocked up and in their vintage element (I regret so much not taking more photos of them!), men and women who burned up the floor in the original Trocadero, and a sold out Town Hall full of people having one of the most amazing experiences of their lives.

Before the event I was a little bummed we missed out on tickets for tables on the floor but the tickets we had in the "gallery" were perfect. We could go up and watch the dancefloor and had a great view of the aerialists, but could also go down and dance (the table seats couldn't go up).

The music was so much fun and I'd be lying if I didn't say my favourite part was when they did big band versions of Beyonce songs. The dancefloor was massive but there was hardly a square inch to dance because it was so full- and there were no shirtless douchebags in sight!

I, and I'm sure many others motion for the "Troc" to be a regular Sydney event.
I love the history of it and there's a fantastic interview with Kris Stewart you can download from FBI Radio that's highly recommended.

I'm definitely rocking a 50's look more regularly because of it!

Ellie Saab Spring 2011

Gush! View the whole collection on Style.com

Kate Jenkins

I have not much more to say about Kate Jenkins work other then WOW. And that I really wish I could knit. Damn those 5 times my grandmother tried to teach me and I was just too unco!

Check out more of her work at her website Cardigan.

Images via AgencyRush

Happy Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! This year is the Year of the Rabbit and like the crap Asian I am I don't know what that means besides obigatory family do's and getting red packets (yeah!).

If you're Singaporean though, apparently now would be a good time to have babies. Though really, if you're Asian, anytime is a good time to have babies.

The only traditional type of things I know about it is that you're supposed to clean your house (which I can't really be bothered doing), buying a new outfit and underwear (do I really need to spend more money?), and making sure you're not in any debt (yay! I got one!).

Is there anything else I should be attempting to do? Oh I did buy flowers today- does that count?

Images via my most favourite artists and rabbit specialists Kozyndan.

Breezy Bouquet Basket Bag

Isn't this bag gorgeous? It would sit perfectly along with all with all my other completely impractical (and extremely essential) but oh so pretty bags. WANT.

via Modcloth