Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Look Book Gift Bag - Want Proof?

A further update on the Look Book instores Gift Bag. Just in case you didn't believe us about how huge it was. Here's proof:

This is the pile of stuff we were given... for free (minus a few bits and pieces that I'm already using and some that I so kindly gave to a few special friends to try!) And a happy snap of myself with my two favourite items:
Oh.my.goodness these two items rock my socks. I've already talked about the Kora Body Lotion but on the other side we have HissyFits Protect.Renew.Perfect range - it includes a great tinted moisturiser (no kidding... it's so wonderful that I don't need foundation), a lip balm with SPF 30+ and a hand cream with sunscreen. It's so important that we protect our skin and this fab new range is the perfect answer. yay!

Oh and in relation to Tash's Valentines Cupcakes... If I have anything to do with it she will have them mastered waaaay before next Feb. In fact I think I'll call her now and get her on to it.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Adelaide Life - A Week in Review

I would like to add to Roxy's post to say that the Primped Look Book session was amazing, thanks o Roxy I went along although. Unfortunately we went on different days and so there I was looking like an absolute goof dressed up ready for a pub crawl surrounded by these lovely looking ladies and of course the gorgeous Zoe! I felt a little out of place to say the least. I'm also a bit jealous of Roxy rifling through her goodie bag, because I'm yet to see mine as I had to leave it with a friend who works at David Jones before heading out on the annual engineering pub crawl. I'm very much looking forward to going through it after uni tomorrow.

In other news I'm currently feeling very inadequate. These cupcakes appeared in my tumblr today at I am yet to work out how to make them.

They call them Valentine's Day Cupcakes, so watch this space. I'm determined to have perfected them by next Valentine's Day. 

I've also been enjoying a little bit of the French Film Festival. Not nearly half as much as I would have liked. I did manage to see two films that were absolutely delightful. They were Nueilly Sa Mère! and Micmacs à Tire-Larigot. Both were funny but also sweet, Micmacs is made by the same guy who directed Amélie so it has that same sort of peculiar aspect while also having quite a charming story behind it. Nueilly Sa Mère (Nueilly Yo Mama in English) was hilarious and it was pretty funny hearing jokes about the Jonas Brothers, iPhones and Sarkozy all in one film. I would recommend both of them, and I'll definitely be sourcing them when they come out on DVD along with a long list of Wong Kar Wai I'm attempting to get my hands on. 

It's been a fun week in little old Adelaide. 

Sunday, March 28, 2010

The day I fell MORE in love with Primped (and David Jones)

It has been way too long since I last blogged... Thanks Uni... But on a happier note, my blogging drought has officially ended after I was inspired over the weekend. So what got me so excited that I had to jump onto the computer and blast my opinion out into the virtual world? Primped Look Book instores, that's what.

Okay, lets start from the beginning. In case you didn't know Primped is a beauty website - they actually sum it up really nicely themselves in their website's header: "Primped: the go-to for the how-to in beauty". So, it's super awesome and has tonnes of great tips to help us mere mortals get the newest, hottest look. And I just want to quickly say, if you are sitting there rolling your eyes at the sheer vanity of this all then please hold up: sometimes a nice new polish or a new product that helps your hair not friz on a humid day just makes you feel happy. So there. It's nice to feel happy.

Anyway, Primped do a Look Book every season and it's filled with a quick summary of the new trends and the best products. It's really cute and its free from all David Jones stores. Recently, Zoe Foster (the Editor-In-Chief) ran sessions in David Jones stores around the country to promote the Look Book and wow, it was fantastic. I learned so much got the most incredible gift bag. No kidding, there was about 20 products in the bag. My personal favourite: a 200ml bottle of Kora Body Lotion (Miranda Kerr's new organic skin care range) - it smells so good and my skin loves me for using it.
Jealous much?

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Adelaide Life - End of the Festival Season



The 14th of March signaled the end of the Fringe and the Adelaide Festival, and just like every other time it comes to an end I find myself wishing I'd gotten more involved. This year I actually went to more things than I ever have before. I saw Adam Hills, Josh Thomas, Josh Earl and Ross Noble. They were all great and very funny but they were only the tip of the Fringe iceberg that I could have experienced. So here is a list of the things I wish I had seen. 


The Garden of Unearthly Delights
I did go to the garden, twice, but I spent my time lined up to see Josh Thomas or Adam Hills. I didn't go trawl through all the hippie stalls. I didn't buy corn on the cob (delicious, delicious corn). I didn't go through the freak show tent. I didn't sit down and have a drink and take in the beautiful place that the garden is transformed into. This is one of my favourite things about the Fringe and I'm kicking myself for not spending a night just to take it in. Especially since Kirby has never been before (except for our line experience) so that would have been a great excuse to go!


The Northern Lights
Once again, something I've already seen before but stuff that I can always go again. I didn't actually see the lights until Tuesday night when we were driving past the festival centre and I noticed them on one of the buildings. So apart from witnessing the giant black boxes out the front of uni I really missed out this year. The lights completely transform the buildings on North Terrace and while they aren't too exciting it would have been nice to just take some time out and have a look at them.


Plays
I don't even know if there were any plays in the Fringe that I would have wanted to see in particular, but the Fringe is a great excuse to go see some acting and I didn't even bother. My goal in general is to go see more theatre productions but I going to see some during the Fringe would have been really great.


Writers' Week
I did go to writers week, for the first time ever, but I just wish that I'd seen more writers. I missed out on Richard Dawkins and Irvine Welsh and lots of other authors I'd never heard of but who would have probably been interesting to hear speak. It's a lovely atmosphere just sitting on the lawns listening to people speak, so next year I'm definitely filling up my writers' week schedule!


Format Festival
I've never been to the Format Zine Shop, but I think I'll have to get there soon, and truthfully I don't know a lot about what they do but I really wish I had gone to something to try and get a better idea. This is what Format say about themselves "We put on arts events in and around Adelaide such as the annual Format Festival (including the Academy of DIY, Adelaide Zine Fair & the Street Dreams urban art festival), the art show Big! and Renew Adelaide. We are now also running the Format Zine Shop in the centre of Adelaide city." They sound pretty cool right? Well I just wish I'd had a look and seen what they were all about rather than just constantly getting updates on facebook telling me that I really should be checking out what young creative people in Adelaide are doing. 


Rundle Street
It's not really a particular even of the Fringe, but I just wish I'd spent more time down there. It's a completely different atmosphere down there when they close off the road to the lower half and it's almost impossible to move along the sidewalk. It's just really exciting being amongst so many people who are in town at night not to get drunk but to have coffee or gelato or to eat tea or just to go see a show and it's something that you don't actually get to experience in Adelaide very often.


So that is my list, and there are probably more things. I just wonder does anyone else find themselves at the end of festival season wishing they'd gone to so much more?

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Life - Sick Days

I've decided to declare my love for sick days. For spending the whole day in bed, snuggled up with a blanket or a quilt. For staying in pajamas all day. For being allowed to forget about cleaning the house or buying groceries. For being allowed to not think about work or university or anything else and for just being able to do nothing.

I'm not saying sick days don't have some downsides, the obvious one being that you are sick. Being sick is pretty sucky, and it's usually filled with many undesirable symptoms that not only make you feel pretty lame but also make you a very disgusting being to be within two feet of. But this is also one of the things that makes sick days so fantastic, you are allowed to wallow in the self pity of your sickness rather than feel like you are supposed to pull yourself together and try and continue on with life.

In case it isn't noticeable I've spent the past week in a blur of sickness. It all started with a head cold that kept me in a painful and snotty stupor until I managed to get my hands on the holy grail, Codral (with my favourites pseudoephedrine and codeine). Suddenly the skies cleared and I could think, and breath and swallow and sleep. This was until I spent a day walking around feeling like my legs were about to fall off and my stomach was about to jump out of my mouth due to some lovely side-effects and I stopped taking my Codral and have since then been left feeling pretty horrible. Thankfully I spent today sleeping so I'm feeling slightly better, although this has been dampened by the fact that I have a bazillion pages of readings to do.

Darn!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Media Talk - Google Italy charged and convicted of privacy violations

Yes, it is true, the Italian court has convicted three Google executives of pricacy violations because bullies posted a video online of an autistic boy being abused. Wow.

Now, I'd like to say that I know this becuase I'm a super dooper trustworthy news maven but then I would be fibbing. Truth is, while I am upto date with Australian news, I'm a little shabby with overseas stuff, so I only know about this becuase I had to find a really good story for a Uni assignment. But anyway, how I came across this sad story (which is sad on many levels) is not the point, the point is that it's really interesting. I won't go on about the in's and out's of issue in detail but I will say two things: First, those evil, evil bullies that abused an autistic boy are in my bad books for life - how could someone do that? I don't think I'll ever know... Second, how is Google at fault? Apparently they took down the video as soon as it was brought to thier attention, and they provided infomation on the people who uploaded the video so that they could be brought to justice. I'm confused and slightly worried about the future of freedom on the internet and platforms like 'Blogger' and 'YouTube' if more cases like this occur.

If your interested check out the Official Google Blog's post (a really good read) on this issue.

Crazy stuff.

FYI, if you think Tash's cup cakes looked amazing, well, I hate to tease, but they tasted incredible too. Oh dear!

Shopping - Kikki.K

A fantastic thing happened on Saturday the 6th of March, kikki.K opened it's Adelaide store in Rundle Mall, and I managed to miss it. This Saturday was the first Saturday I've had off work in a very long time, and I'm still kicking myself for not knowing about the store opening sooner. For those of you who don't know kikki.K is a stationary heaven, created and designed by Swedish born Kristina "Kikki"Karlsson.


It's hard to pinpoint what my favourite part of the store is. The designs are just adorable, from plain red and black journals to fun diaries with bicycles and ice cream cones there is a lot to choose from whether you are more traditional or a bit eclectic. Another thing I love about their products is the fact that they don't just sell diaries and letter writing sets. The shelves are filled with interesting things like friendship books, and folders to plan things such as your 'dream home'. I could go on forever about all the different things they have, but I think it's something that is if you check it out yourself! 


I think I've even managed to fall more in love with this store than I am with the colour co-ordinated tie section of Myer. Everything is organised into the different collections and colours, and they have sample products for you to look at and flick through. Not only to get the creative juices flowing but also to have a proper look at what you're actually buying. I'm so sick of shrinkwrapped notebooks and journals that you buy in the hope that it'll actually be what you're looking for. 

Finally, what I think was my favourite part of the store, the lovely people who work there! I came into the store with a carton of cupcakes and I wished that I could have actually given one to them all because they were all so friendly and lovely! They were wonderful as I dashed between the store and the bank due to a public holiday money fiasco, because I desperately needed to leave town today clutching one of their 2010 diaries.

So if you find yourself walking down Rundle Mall go check out kikki.K, it's affordable and incredibly gorgeous! They're even offering $10 bonus gift cards at the moment when you buy something to celebrate the opening!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Baking - Rainbow Cupcakes

Today was the Adelaide Cup public holiday, and I was so thankful for it. Usually I don't really care about public holidays. My mondays at uni are usually pretty short and the only thing public holidays mean is that I can't go to the shops. Today was different. I got to sleep in, get up to date in Gossip Girl, Work on some uni assignments, laugh as my housemate was reeled into talking to some mormons, and I got to bake.


I've been meaning to make some of these rainbow cupcakes ever since I stumbled across the pretty foods tumblr. Kirby (my housemate for all future references) beat me to it a few weeks ago but graciously bought me a packet of cupcake mix so that I could finally get my chance. I just used Green's vanilla cupcake mix, because I was very lazy, my wonderful Wilton's food colouring and I made some cream cheese icing which I piped on and decorated with mini hearts. Now that I've finally got around to making some I'll have to start experimenting with using cakes made from scratch rather than packet mix. This has really just made me realise that I need to buy a new camera!

Friday, March 5, 2010

Rundle Adventures - Clothes and Coffee

Okay, so, it's my mum's 50th this coming weekend. That's right, the big 5-0. Half a century. Wow... So I guess you're all thinking 'sweet big party'... Well no. Mum's not into big celebrations centered around her so we're just going out for dinner at this beautiful restaurant down in McLaren Vale called Oscars. If you're keen for a fine wine and dining experience McLaren Vale is filled with cute places... But more on that later on. Let's get to the point already... Which is the two 'Essentail C's' - Clothes and Coffee... Yippee!

Earlier today I thought, 'right I'm going out for a lovely dinner this coming weekend what will I need?' Hmmm, I definitely heard the tiny little devil hovering above my ear whispering... What was she saying? 'Mess'? No. 'Test'? No. Ohhhh, dress! Duh. I totally need to go spend money (that I don't necessarly have) on a new dress for my mothers 50th birthday dinner. So, this is exactly what happened. I dragged darling Tash from our lecture/tutorial this afternoon (FYI, a lecture hosted by the nicest, cutest lecturer ever) towards my all time favourite clothing store Kookai.

I found the (purple) dress I wanted in about five seconds flat so there was no problem there, until one of the hot retail assistants pointed out to me that there was infact three colours; purble, black and red. I gasped, Tash rolled her eyes. I wanted the red one, didn't I? Well, after trying the red one on, then the purple again, I settled on the red. I think it looks nice. Unfortunatly not as nice and the grey version looks on this stunning model:

Dont be fooled, the balck skirt does not come with the dress, I'll just be wearing it plain with some accessories. Maybe I'll upload a pic of the red one with me in it... well, that's a big maybe.

So, visit Kookai. It's awesome. Then go to Gloria Jeans Coffees and buy a 'Very Vanilla Chiller with a shot of hazelnut syrup'. That's what we did anyway because everyone knows that after a good shopping experience, you're worn out and need some extra energy... Well that, and, it just tastes so damn good!

Before I go, just a quick comment about Tash's Burp post: a Burp wrap without guacomole is like a meat pie without sauce. Poor form Burp, Poor form.

Ciao!




Thursday, March 4, 2010

Things - Polaroid

So I told myself I wouldn't post more than once in a day, because I don't want to be hogging the blogosphere. Technically I suppose I'm not going against that because it is now technically Thursday so we'll just ignore the fact that I made my first 'Tash-only' post merely hours ago. 


As the title suggests this is about Polaroid and their instant cameras, it has been brought about by me realising that I really want one of these:



According to Gizmodo this baby will be coming out sometime in the near future and I want one of these all for myself. I currently own 6 Polaroid cameras, the latest addition came just the other day when my aunt bought me one at auction. I've only ever taken photos with one of these cameras and have only ever used up two packets of film. Despite my somewhat measly dealings with the actual 'instant photography' side of things I love Polaroid cameras probably more than all of my other cameras, but I just don't understand where I stand with this company and these cameras. 

When Polaroid announced that they were ceasing production of their film I was devastated, granted I'd never used or owned one before but I was still devastated. Then along came this amazing thing called The Impossible Project who were going to start manufacturing Polaroid instant film once official production was stopped. I loved the concept of this site, especially the fact that they had little media packs you could download to help spread word of the plight of Polaroid instant film. The only problem was I never really understood what was happening, whether they were actually going to go ahead with their plans with large scale possibilities or whether it was a bit of a pipe dream. So today, days after receiving my newest Polaroid addition, I've been scanning their new and improved website (online store and all) and I still can't figure out what the deal is. 

So much of the film in the store is "sold out" and I have no idea whether this means sorry this has all been snatched up super quick, wait for the next batch or sorry, while we make some random Polaroid films anything you actually need was sold out long ago and will never be manufactured again. If anyone knows the real situation I'd love to know what it is because I have six pretty babies sitting on my shelf yearning to pump out some instant shots. 

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Eateries - Burp Burrito

I began a love affair back in 2005 with a little place called Burp Burrito. It was this fantastic place that introduced me to having rice in a burrito and where you could stuff a tortilla with so many fresh salsas that it could hardly stay closed. Throughout the years our relationship has become less and less frequent. By the time I get to the end of Rundle Mall I'm usually more interested in catching the tram home rather than heading on down Hindley Street and forking out $7.20 for a burrito. Today though I got the craving and I made my way there, but I was sadly disappointed.

Firstly as I got to the end of the subway like burrito bar I discovered that they were all out of guacamole! This is one of my favourite additions to the dear burrito but despite my enquiries as to whether there was more out the back my burrito was guacamole-less. Perhaps it was just the disappointment over the guacamole that tainted that first bite but the burrito just wasn't the same. The flavours didn't combine together to create the awesome "POW" that I was used to.

Maybe I should have pieced it together at first by the fact that they were playing this:

rather than this:


I'm sorry Burp but you just lost your style.


(saying this, if you haven't been to Burp then definitely go there. It's far better than most fast food places and much more affordable than places like Nandos. Don't let my little qualm deter you, they are still a fantastic place to eat)

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Welcome

Hi there. Welcome to the blog, I'm Tash.


Hey. Ditto, I'm Roxy. 


We've known each other since we were three years old and for part of that we lived next door to each other or I've lived on the other side of the world, or we operate as we do now living at different ends of Adelaide and mainly only seeing each other for breakfast dates or lunch dates at uni.

Regardeless, our friendship still rocks and we are close. Knowing everything about someone, what they like and hate, what their virtues and vices are... it's cool. For example, I know Tash loves baking and she knows that I love eating her cookies so we have this unspoken agreement that when I really need cookies... I get them! Do you have that sort of friend?

I read somewhere that for a blog to be successful the blogger should be obsessed with something, therefore I think I'd make a perfect blogger as my life is filled with obsessions. I'm obsessed with home wares, particularly things in pastel colours, floral patterns or anything that aids in baking or presenting baked goods. I'm obsessed with lots of other things too like books, dvds and origami. Basically I guess this doesn't really narrow down the things I'm likely to post about.

And me. Well I wouldn't say my life is filled with static obsessions, I'm one of those people that flitters in between them. I might be obsessed with reading for a while, then suddenly decide to be an exercise nut and randomly become a surf life saver. I love shopping, and for a while I was the 'shop in the shopping centre only' type of girl but now I'm finally accepting the online shopping environment. Yay. I really like food; cooking and eating out, bring it on;  so you'll probably hear a lot about the new fun and yummy places I've been to. 

Basically this blog will be about things we enjoy, things we discover, things that we just want to complain about and things that we come across in the Media.

But don't worry, we don't complain much. Enjoy!