Merry Christmas!

Big day is here! I hope you all have a fantastic day wherever you are, whatever you are doing and whoever you are spending it with :)

I'm about to head off to lunch and stuff my face.

Should have got Mozart some reindeer ears... hmmm, next year.

x

Beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Feeling pretty chuffed with myself right now, the bf and I managed to purchase all but 2 of our Christmas presents in less than 3 hours on Saturday and I picked up the remainder today. So aside from work for the next 2 days I can pretty much kick back and relax until the big day. U jelly?


I also finally got around to putting up the fairy lights out the front of the house and decorate a bottlebrush in the yard (note to self: purchase more large baubles for outdoor use in post Xmas sales). I also set up the tree because honestly, what's Christmas without one? And since the less I put up, the less I have to put away in the post Christmas hangover, I decided to wedge the tree in a corner so I would only have to put up a quarter of the branches (smart, I know).


And for those of you who don't follow me on instagram; as if making my dog get a haircut wasn't torture enough, I also subjected him to tinsel and santa hat abuse :P

A chocoholic's best friend

So last week the girls held a Kris Kringle exchange and we were all asked to bring a plate. Since I was working, I wanted something I could prepare the night before relatively easily and immediately thought Rocky Road (because what's easier than pouring a heap of melted chocolate over some random ingredients right?)


Trawling through the mass google results for the perfect recipe, I stumbled upon this one tucked away in a corner and thought you know what, I don't think I've ever had white choc rocky road. And thus my little adventure began.


Turns out white choc is a little more expensive than milk/dark choc (as are pistachios and cranberries over peanuts and cherries) but it's so worth it. The slight saltiness of the pistachios and macadamias are quite a nice surprise in contrast to the sweetness of marshmallows and chocolate (like mixing popcorn and M&Ms at the movies- yummmm). Did I mention they're super pretty too? 


I planned to cut them into gingerbread men shapes with cutters, however the tin was too small and the slab turned out too high to push the cutter all the way through. There was also too much filling/not enough chocolate and so the slice was quite puffy and not dense enough to cookie cut. Oh well, perfect excuse to make it again next year!

Iconic.

Sorry retail industry I hate to say it, but online shopping is the way of the future and with trend advances comes more opportunities and new players on the field.


For instance, new Australian fashion site The Iconic was recently brought to my attention, and I like what I see. This site was started up by European e-commerce company Rocket Internet and provides an "Australian lens on global trends...will offer the best in men's and women's global fashion and footwear." Said 'Australian lens' will be provided by Sarah Gale (Project Runway Australia judge) and the website will also include trend reports and style tips.


A quick flick through The Iconic will see you gazing at stock from All About Eve, Bluejuice, Cooper St, Ellery, I Love Billy, Ksubi, Ladakh, Minty Meets Munt and well, a lot more. See them all here.
And while a large range of brands and styles mean a wide range of price points, I myself am still coming out of the uni student "I-have-no-money" ways, but for those with a tight budget there are some rather attractive pieces on the 'wallet friendly' end of the scale. I'm personally chomping at the bit to get my hands on the 8 Other Reasons 'Send Them Love' necklace and Purple Ginger 'Chichua Spliced Maxi'.


A quick rundown of the basics included:
-30 days return.
-FREE shipping within Australia.
-And for those impulse buyers in the Sydney metro area that need an instant fix, a 3 hour delivery service for a little extra charge.


Head on over to The Iconic to find out more (and possibly finish your Christmas Shopping).

Final Countdown

Shooty Hoop$' grand final.

Scary Thoughts.

Someone pointed out to me last Friday night that I hadn't done a blog post in over a month (Brad, in case you're reading this! haha) and after that I was planning on doing a "my-life-according-to-Instagram" type post, but I was too lazy to even do that over the weekend.

The reason I haven't been active on here lately is due to work and my dreaded first CA exam tomorrow morning. I've had the past week off on study/procrastination leave and haven't really been able to concentrate on much else.

I agreed to be a model for a little hair show today and was plaited, crimped and teased up like Scary Spice. Of course I couldn't let it all go to waste and took some happy snaps when I got home (more goodies below). I actually had a nice relaxing day today and haven't really thought about tomorrow's exam much, which I think is good otherwise I probably would have made myself sick.

Usually right now (night before an exam) I'd be cramming and preparing notes to put under my pillow in the hope that the knowledge will float through and imbed itself in my dreams (or perhaps cause some unwanted nightmares!) However, I think writing this post is a much better way of spending my time :)

I think I've come to terms with the fact, if it al goes downhill tomorrow then I only have myself to blame for procrastinating during the week, and that failing something is not the end of the world...

... there's always the supplementary ;)

Manikinn

The other week I finally used my Scoopon and made my Manikinn order and on Wednesday a nice little parcel made its way into my pigeonhole :) 

Manikinn takes oversized to the next level, and while I tried to make them look more fitted for the photos, these shirts are actually ridiculously huge; the "No 11" perfume tee is a small, while the "AHOY!" one is an extra small.

These make me that little bit more excited for summer :) I just wish all the Perth rain would go away already!

Racy.

Yesterday I headed on down to Ascot Racecourse with some friend for the annual 'Race That Stops The Nation' aka: Melbourne Cup. Unfortunately I missed out on placing my bet since the race started just before I could put my ticket through the machine, but hey, it prevented me from losing some money. 

I'm trying to save some moolah for my trip away at the end of the year, so the only new item I purchased for the day was my flowery headband ($20 from Target thankyouverymuch) dress previously seen here and shoes previously here. Also brought some old school glam with some red and gold crescent style nails (loving this atm, already thinking what colour combo I'll go next week).

Didn't get a chance to take a proper photo before whizzing out the door, but I'm glad I at least got a quick one while I was still looking decent as it was super hot (we were sitting at a table outside without shade) and by midday I just felt all gross and sweaty/sticky from the heat. Although I didn't use it, I must give props to Yellowglen, the sponsors of the day, who provided a complimentary 'beauty touch up' area aka: makeup artists turned you from sweaty back into stunning.

And just on the note of makeup, if you're looking for a good liquid eyeliner that lasts the Bourjois Liner Feutre pictured below is definitely at the top of my list. I had this on during the day and even though it's not waterproof, still looked perfect when I got home and expected to look like a raccoon from the heat.

Lessons of the day: Win and place is probably a better bet than a boxed trifecta if you're a novice like me, apparently drinking alcohol from a straw actually does make you drunker quicker because of a chemical reaction between the alcohol and the plastic in the straw (or something like that) and when you're super hungry Chicken Treat from a food stall van tastes AMAZING haha.

All in all I had a pretty fab day, all the sun made me absolutely crash when I got home and I think I hit the hay before Fat Cat even made his appearance on tv.

This is my jam.

Baked some Jam Drops this afternoon and thought I would document the recipe/process Instagram style :)

1. Start off with 125g softened butter and 3/4 cup white sugar (I used castor sugar).

2. Cream butter and sugar :)

 3. Mix in 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used essence) and 2 beaten eggs.

4. Add 1 & 1/4 cups plain flour (sifted), 1/4 cup cornflour (sifted) and 1/2 cup desiccated coconut.

5. Mix :)

6. Roll the mix into small balls. I used just a bit more than a teaspoonful for each ball and made approx 36.

7. Flatten/make little wells in the centre and fill with mum's homemade strawberry jam (or whatever other kind of jam you prefer).

8. Bake in the oven (I used 160C fan forced) for 15 minutes. Then let cool on tray.

9. Enjoy :D

Get baked

On Thursday during my lunch break on a trip to Woolies for afternoon snacks, I whizzed past the baking aisle to see that the Donna Hay macaron mixes were on special and figured I'd give them a go. They are relatively simple to make, as traditional macaron recipes require you to measure out all the ingredients precisely (weight wise, not volume wise) but this mix just comes in little sachets and all you need to add is some water and cream. 

The only trouble I had was that the lids didn't rise properly to create the little 'feet' they should have (my friend later mentioned that the Donna Hay magazine says you should tap the bottom of the tray to remove air bubbles- Gee, thanks for excluding that little tip on the box) and a lot of the filling kind of burst/ran out of the sides. Although, that was easily fixed I just removed the overflow and was left with reasonably round shapes to work with. 

The 'ganache' was more like cake icing, so I put them in the fridge and boy do they taste amazing once the filling has chilled a bit. They're not overly sweet, but are quite filling. So if you've ever wanted to try making your own macarons, but have been put off by all the fiddly processes and ingredients, I highly recommend you give this a try :)

To market, to market.

Last night masses descended upon Forrest Place for the opening night of the Twilight Hawkers Market, and we decided to join them.


Our menu for the night consisted of; sesame balls, spring rolls, coconut water, spiral spuds, nachos, paella, donuts (both plain and jam filled) and crepes.


Needless to say I went home and fell into a deep food coma, and no doubt I will be back a number of times during the rest of the season as this event continues throughout summer until the end of March.


More info here.