My Bali birthday

I am very lucky this year as I was whisked off to Bali for my birthday, or more accurately Johnny's friend had planned a trip there for his birthday and it just happened to correspond with mine. Am I complaining? Nope.

To be honest, neither one of us had any interest in visiting Bali thanks to all the awful stories about embarrassing bogan Australians. On the other hand, there's all the other stories you hear about people absolutely falling in love with the place. So, cautiously and with low expectations we went- and loved it. Loved that we could just be tourists, loved that things were so much calmer than Vietnam, loved that you could see their religion and culture everywhere and loved the lush greenness.

In essence- GO. Go to Ubud specifically, it's lovely.

My highlights in Ubud: riding on an well cared for elephant and being able to score the hilarious photo above, bathing in what I thought were the hot springs but were actually freezing cold because they weren't the hot springs, coming over the mountain and seeing Kintamani Volcano- holy moly it was so beautiful it looked like a painting of a dream of the most romantic moment you've ever had, eating babi guiling and eating at an organic restaurant twice which I don't know the name of (it's on Jalan Raya Ubud and is in the middle of a what looks like a fancy shopping U complex- fancy outdoor furntiure and a giant rock water feature in the centre).

My highlights in Seminyak: definitely our private pool and outdoor shower in our villa!, dinner at Ku De Ta which was totally worth the hype (the food was awesome and also happened to be about a third the money we spent) and drinks at Potatohead which felt like a Justin Hemmes wet dream (also worth the hype).

Thanks to Laura for all her tips! You can steal them all like I did here.

Hello Kitty Lomo Fisheye VII: Sydney

These are some photos from my last lomo batch I had developed. I've been meaning to use it more but I've barely touched it- it's that damn iPhone's fault! When Laura first got hers I scolded her because she didn't use her lomo or dslr anymore...and now I'm doing the same. DOH.

Hello Kitty Lomo Fisheye VI: Sydney

A few more shots from my time in Sydney. It's strange to think that it's sweltering here at the moment it's freezing cold in back there. Not quite sure which I'd prefer at the moment...

Hello Kitty Lomo Fisheye V: Sydney

A couple of months ago I sent back a few rolls of film with Johnny to get developed in Hanoi- it's so much cheaper to have them processed here. Being male, he never actually developed them so I dropped them off and only got them a few days ago. Oh Sydney how I miss you already!

Princess Chelsea: The Cigarette Duet

I’ve listened to this song on repeat about 10 times already this morning and by the time of posting this it would probably have doubled.

The track is by a New Zealand artist named Princess Chelsea and is based on a real life conversation with her boyfriend. If only all my conversations could be turned into cute poppy songs!

Listen to more of her fairytale inspired tracks here.

Madonna Inn

Excuse me while I just lose it here a little bit. I was reading the blog Milk Teeths and found this amazing post about Madonna Inn on the central coast of California. It features 100 rooms each completely different and who all scream vintage, tacky, and really, really awesome. Perfect if you've ever wanted to be a 50's housewife, demanding diva, porn star or a character in a 70's sitcom. I'm not too sure about this room though.

See the full images of all the rooms here. Go nuts kids, go nuts.

March Challenge: Do Something Different Pt 3

This is my final post that wraps up the March challenge to do something different everyday....

Day 15: Messaged my cousin living in Zambia to see how he was

Day 16: Started #cosmofashionfriday at work to show off what the team is wearing each week

Day 17: Lunch at a new place- Ayam Goreng 99 in Kensington- it's amazing!

Day 18: I've always wanted a corset and I finally bought one!

Day 19: Took a different escalator out of the train station (too packed- now I know!)
Day 20: Ate capsicum and artichoke at Felix.
Day 21: Did a nude photoshoot at work cause they had people cancel at the last minute. Not as weird as you 'd think and way more fun.

Day 22: Went to yoga, in a church, with a dj. Then danced to God is a Dj an Smack My Bitch Up.
Day 23: Went to Bingo for the first time- stressful but very fun.
Day 24: Styled a 50's pin-up shoot
Day 25: Downloaded a new supercute photo app called Tappi Snap
Day 26: Started wearing new glasses
Day 27: Went to see a SDC show and invited Emily. Finally had dinner at Cafe Sopra too!
Day 28: Started watching Toddlers an Tiaras. Can't. Look. Away.
Day 29: Went to Duke for dinner (wasn't too impressed...)

Day 30: Went to the fancy opening of the new club Marquee at Star City and walked the purple carpet.
Day 31: Did a solar plate print class- fun but really, really tiring

And so kids, that was March. How quickly time goes! Can you believe we're almost mid-year?

Hope everyone else who took on the challenge got through it. Head over to Laura's post as she wraps up some of the final thoughts of everyone who got involved. Until the next challenge friends!

Introducing Miss Dolly Tofu*

If you follow me on instagram (if not look for jodeska) then you've probably already seen these shots. These are a few images from a 1950's pin-up shoot that I styled and helped concept last week which was loads of fun and extremely exhausting. Can't wait to see the final shots- some of which I may have also made an appearance in!

On a side note, this lovely miss is still looking for a stage name. The brief is something cute, food related and use the initials DT. Any suggestions?

Print Clash by Westfields

When you work in advertising it immediately makes you cynical of most campaigns. It also means you notice and not notice a hell of a lot of ads. Does that make any sense? Probably not.

My point is- hey look at this awesome Westfields video! Despite there being a total of 2 out of all three comments saying how annoying this is I really like it. Cute music and pretty visuals. I bet it's already stuck in your head. *clap clap* for a pre-roll on YouTube not being totally annoying. Too bad their YouTube page is confusing and trying to do to much- do you agree?

Ended advertising nerd rant here.

March Challenge: Do Something Different Pt 2

 

Hey kids do you notice something different? Yep- those there are INSTAGRAM photos. Now I have an iPhone I'm all over it. Speaking of being all over it, here's the next update for the March Challenge!

• Day 8: Went to the Belvoir Theatre for the first time & saw Babyteeth (amazing play, see it if you can)
• Day 9: Ventured out of the city bubble to Rozelle for Art Month Sydney 
• Day 10: Had lunch at The Australian on a weekend (I've only been there on weekdays) so Laura could try crocodile and kangaroo.
• Day 11: Wore a new dress and headpiece
• Day 12: Let myself love 21 Jump Street
• Day 13: Instead of playing it safe ordered the tender steak, cheddar cheese & smokey bacon pie at The Pie Tin. And it was scarily delicious.
• Day 14: Wore the panda socks my friend Jo gave me

Hope everyone going well. If you want a stickybeak at what others have been up to check out Laura's post over here.

Chairlift : Amanaemonesia

Karaoke, dancing and lyrca. This video (and song) by Chairlift was always destined for awesomeness.

March Challenge: Do Something Different Pt 1

There are a few March challenges going around. I wonder why that is- perhaps everyone has finally settled into the new year but still have some new year cheer left?

The one I'm doing at the moment is simple: do something different every day.

What I love about it is that it's an open challenge- this means it can be anything from trying a new dish to listening to new music to a new hair do.

So far I have:

• Day 1: Used Photoshop for the first time (I'd been avoiding it til now!)
• Day 2: Saw American Pie the Reunion- I would never usually attend such cheese
• Day 3: Bought an iPhone
• Day 4: Looked up and listened to a new artist- lovely stuff- Michael Kiwanuka
• Day 5: Chose the vegetarian lasagne
• Day 6: Went to a new restaurant- Sake- yum yum yum. Highly recommended!
• Day 7: Tried the newly renovated Forresters for the first time. I'm bummed they've gotten rid of the $5 steak but the new menu makes you forget it even existed.

You can check other other bloggers who are doing the challenge by checking out the #differentmarch tag on social media or through our Half/Half page. It's not too late!

Image by See Hear Say

Mikko Kuorinki: Wall Piece With 200 Letters

Love this changing artwork where each week artist Mikko Kuorinki formed new words from the silly, to sweet to serious. We come into contact with probably thousands of words each day but it's interesting to see such a simple project like this make you actually stop think about them even for second.

I really like this because despite some of the words being deep universal thoughts, it feels like they wouldn't have any other place to exist. See more of the collection here.

via Curious Constellation