Monday Meetings

Monday mornings after spectacular weekends are always a bit blah, am I right? Sunday looked like this:

Yes, I know, life is hard...

So how could Monday possibly compare?

Irrespective, there was no time for philosophical musings as I had to get ready for work. Monday is always busy. Always.  Even if you think you've locked everything away neat and tidy on Friday evening, and have kept an eye on your emails over the weekend, Monday morning will always come tearing into your office (or sometimes it can't even wait that long and your phone starts buzzing on your bedside table) at a million miles an hour.

I have big meetings today, which I feel confident about but know I have to be 100% on and present the very best case for my company. So I figured I should at least look sharp doing it:

Top: LK Bennett
Pants: Country Road
Blazer: Witchery
Heels: Bally
Bag: Hermes

This is one of the divine crepe tank tops from LK Bennett that I've been pretty much obsessed with since they arrived in the post. Sadly, the pretty pink colour is all sold out #sadface but the ivory/cream colour is still there. Divine under jackets, tucked in with pencil skirts and loose and relaxed over skinny jeans or soft silk trousers.

Have good weeks everyone :) xo

Relaxed Sunday

It's a quiet Sunday here - I did have a lunch with friends but one cancelled, then another had to pick family up from the airport unexpectedly - so we rescheduled and I ended up with time on my hands, which was nice.

Just wandering around Kangaroo Point is so lovely. Because we have to walk the dog, we end up exploring quite a bit of the suburb on foot.  He loves it, it's healthy for M and I - #winning.

This afternoon, we went for a swim. For those wondering, I did end up going to pilates on Saturday and yes, I am quite sore today but it's not intolerable.  I've already booked a class for Wednesday morning and next Saturday, so I am keen to stick with it. But swimming was good to stretch out and soothe those muscles :) 

I decided to run a few errands after swimming and then to meet up with a friend for a glass of wine:

Top: LK Bennett
Pants: Country Road
Shoes: Nine West
Bag: Michael Kors

I love a hobo for my bag on weekends - it's relaxed, I can throw a tonne of stuff in it if I need to and being able to sling it over my shoulder makes it great for going shopping or doing other errands with it. I love the tonal complements in this outfit: the blush pink top with the chocolate leather of the bag, finished with the tan heels.  I love a block-heel in summer, it helps ground the lighter fabrics of my summer wardrobe and keep the look weekend-appropriate, as compared stilettos which would make me feel a bit unrealistic :) 

Have good Sundays everyone xo

Thursday morning after tennis the night before...

Ok, so M and I are embracing fitness and exercise and healthy living and all that jazz.  It's just taking a bit longer for healthy living to really embrace us, if you know what I mean.

Specifically, we played tennis last night. We play tennis once a fortnight with friends from work. It's not serious, it's a bit of a rotating group and it's really fun. As a habit, it's been going on for just over 2 months. Now, normally I do high intensity spin sessions or I go running for about 40 minutes and I would do something like that 4 times a week minimum.  This is in addition to walking our fat dog twice a day. That has been my exercise regimen since pretty much the start of the year.

So theoretically I have been getting plenty of movement, plenty of incidental exercise as well as aerobic stuff.  Tennis though, for some reason, really uses muscles I barely know about and hopefully M doesn't ever read this but...I feel so. so. old the morning after tennis.

I'm not going to give up, I'm going to my first pilates class in about 5 years on Saturday (terrified by that, just a little bit). But I cannot wait until I feel like a lean, fit cheetah on the court.

I hope you all enjoyed that image :)

So this is my outfit this morning, slightly less cheetah-like and more like a gingerly-held-together sloth:

Top: Vivienne Westwood Anglomania
Skirt: Burberry
Shoes: Bally
Bag: Chanel

I really enjoyed my outfit yesterday, very spring-y and light. Today I kept the theme with this really lovely petrol-coloured skirt from Burberry which has ruching detail all over it, adding an extra element of interest on top of the divine colour. It's light and cool as well. I love the contrast of the petrol blue and the black - it really makes the colour pop.

Happy Thursday everyone :) xo

Crisp blue and ivory

The weather was definitely on my mind when I dressed this morning. Although I haven't worked in litigation for nearly 6 years, I still feel a bit naked going to work without a suit jacket. However, the reality is it is often far too hot to wear one (even in office air-conditioning).

It was quite a challenge to me when I first moved from a law firm to in-house counsel because the office dress code was much more casual. I think I've managed to find a happy medium where I can still pull together a very corporate look when I have meetings, but I also can look more relaxed/deconstructed when I'm just working in my office or from home.

This is a really fresh spring look for me:

Top: LK Bennett
Skirt: Dolce & Gabbana
Shoes: Kate Spade
Belt: YSL
Bag: Chanel

I love this top from LK Bennett. They sold out really quickly (sad face) but I did manage to snag two in ivory and one in a lovely blush-pink.  I had to get them tailored to add two darts at the back, as I bought a slightly bigger size so as to comfortably fit my bust, but I naturally ended up with quite billowy fabric around my waist.

Ivory, sleeveless, pops of blue, polished accessories - hello springtime, I say! xo

Tuesday in navy and red

Back to work and summer has definitely arrived - 29 degrees in Brisbane today, bright and sunny!

I know I've made this point before but it's worth reminding myself how important it is to dress and shop according to your climate. Paris/London/NY are all undeniably chic fashion capitals...but they're also northern hemisphere and quite temperate/cool (if not sometimes freezing) climates with distinct seasons.  Queensland isn't like that - there are about 3 weeks in June/July when you can get away with a knee-length trench coat (just). The rest of the time, it's warm and sunny and don't you forget it!

Now I'm not complaining - I sincerely enjoy our beautiful climate. It's just occasionally, glancing through international September issues of Vogue or London-based blogs, I don't know, I get wistful for defined seasons and gloves and scarves and things...

Anyway, back to reality where it's hot and the skies are a brilliant blue more often than not! I put this outfit together this morning, admittedly not feeling v inspired after a luxurious long weekend:

Top: Country Road
Pants: Chloe
Shoes: Valentino
Bag: Chanel 

Accessories up close...

These navy trousers are in a lovely light cotton and I felt quite nautical-inspired - the outfit is simple, deconstructed but office-professional and best of all, suits the blazing sunshine and the warm temperatures. 

House and Home: DIY delights!

Ok, so I promised I'd do a full post on how M and I came to make our coffee table.

Background: our apartment is actually my apartment, which I bought 4 years ago shortly before M and I met. I took my time with furnishing it, because I find that you have to spend lots of time in a space before you can really decorate it to best effect. When in doubt, wait and see whether that bright feature wall, that 3-seater sofa or that 6-seater outdoor dining table is really going to work practically for the space that you have.

Bearing that in mind, as recently as this year we still didn't have an outdoor table. I mean, we had a $10 Ikea nightmare that served a purpose i.e. you COULD put plates of nibbles on it - but it was ugly and because it was outside with our plants, the MDF swelled up and cracked from all the water. We had a 2-seater very practical, very comfortable grey outdoor couch, but no table we wanted to actually keep out there.

We looked and looked at manufactured outdoor tables. I felt that what was on the market was too expensive for what you got - ugly, heavy and generally too big for our balcony (which is quite a generous 10 square meters). M was similarly unwilling to spend money on the pre-fab items available that looked cheap yet came with a hefty price tag.

One Friday night, we were watching Better Homes and Gardens/BHG (don't judge us, ok? I'm exhausted by Friday, I just want to look at flowers and animals and other people cooking on TV) and they showed some of those naff 'look-what-we-made-from-the-show' photos that viewers send in sometimes (which I now totally want to do - such a hypocrite, no?!?) and they showed a fruit-crate coffee table. M and I both spontaneously said, "Hey, what about that?"

The beauty of most BHG DIY is that it generally is something you really can do yourself. So we found the recipe/instructions (?) at this site:

https://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/better-homes-gardens/diy/h/20417667/how-to-make-a-fruit-box-coffee-table/

And proceeded to make greatness happen:

Measuring and hammering and stuff...

That OMG moment when it actually starts to look like they said it would...

Ta-da!!!!

What we love about this is it looks nice, polished but not over-engineered. The dark timber varnish goes nicely with our green plants. We can bring it inside if we want to, if we're having friends over but it's too cold to sit outside.

The flame is actually an ethanol burner with a big glass cover that we already owned, that just happened to fit in the centre well of the coffee table and consequently looks completely fabulous. A glass of wine at our place is now so much prettier than it used to be ;) xo

Long weekend musings

Oh dear, I've been gone from this space for a while! I feel like I should be spanked or something - the truth is, no matter how stressful or time-consuming work and life get, I shouldn't forget to make time for blogging. I am going to definitely be more disciplined about it from now on. It makes me happy to be able to share some thoughts and some outfits and general musings on life, unlike my fairly serious everyday working life...

So how can I sum up the past three months when I basically dropped off the face of the Earth? A few highlights:

1. I have lost over 6kg (that's over 12 pounds for our imperial friends): I'm doing a combination of paleo and 5:2 and I must say, it is working an absolute treat. M and I have amped up our exercise as well, so I'm currently working out 4-5 days a week plus twice daily walks with our dog;

2. I have started to get quite excited about the wedding: dress, done; shoes, done; hair, ideas in play and hairdresser chosen; stationery, just about done; venue, done; DJ requested, just waiting to see if she's around or in LA at that time next year (she plays mega music festivals apparently - how glamorous of us);

3. M and I have made a coffee table (which looks fabulous, no?) and are considering our next DIY project;

I will do a full detailed post on how this DIY-lifestyle awesomeness came to be - stay tuned...

4. Some things happened: Chloe medium Paraty tote in black; Chanel classic double flap in black caviar with gold hardware; JBrand 811 jeans, multiple pairs; Nine West tan stack-heel summer sandals;

It's a fabulous long weekend this weekend and M and I managed to align the stars and get Friday off, as well as the public holiday on Monday.  We went out on Friday and had lunch at a casual restaurant - we felt like absolute tourists watching everyone else rushing back to work. We saw Gone Girl at the new cinemas in Fortitude Valley (good but not going to be everyone's cup of tea, noir female characters are hard to pull off). We went out for dinner on Thursday and Friday nights (Gordita on Thursday with friends; Green Tea for cheap and cheerful Thai on Friday).

The rest of the weekend is being spent cooking up a storm, doing odd jobs around the house, walking our fat dog and generally trying to relax as much as possible :)

And I promise I will get back to daily posts where possible. Below is a quick OOTD shot from heading out for a quick glass of wine at Summerhouse with a friend:

Top: Marcs
Jeans: JBrand
Flats: Nine West
Bag: Chanel
Dog: Leo ;) 

Take care everyone :) xo