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 ;)