Daily Outfit: Style Scouting for Hustle & Scout

Today I met up with Jiawa from Closet Voyage, and she kindly too my photo for the Hustle & Scout Twilight Fashion Markets Facebook page, to announce that I will be there on Saturday doing Style Scouting!

I'm really thrilled to be able to take part in the event, and to see who will be there and wearing what. The past two Hustle and Scout events that I have been to have been absolutely phenomenal, and I am really looking forward to this new Spring session in a beautiful new home at Hangar 47 in Fairbairn.

I'm really excited to check out the new location this Saturday, especially with the promise of 2,000 free car parks, ATMs,  and a magnificent view of the runway and lots of aircraft activity. 

Daily Outfit: Saturday Casual

Today was all about getting ready for the week ahead. 

Most people, I imagine, use their weekends to relax and rewind and not to run around like a madman getting their lives sorted for the following week. I am unfortunately not such a person, and while I did find time today for one or two moments of relaxation, the majority of my time was spent running errands, doing chores, and generally getting my life sorted out for the following six days.

I didn't really get a chance to stop until I headed out to dinner tonight with the boyfriend.

Daily Outfit: Homeward Bound

This weekend I'm back in my home-town of Bega, NSW, to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday with our families.

We stopped on the side of the road on the way down this evening to take the photos of my daily outfit. I'll be taking my outfit photos for the upcoming week while I am down here, but I wanted to take the opportunity to snap something in my favourite area if the country, the Monaro.

Daily Outfit: Travel Jacket Trial-run

This morning the boyfriend and I braved the dreary wet conditions Canberra was experiencing, and headed to Chatterbox in Belconnen for breakfast.

I was excited because not only did I get to eat a delicious breakfast, but I also got to give this blazer that I picked up at a church fete yesterday, its first trail run. I was really skeptical about the blazer at first, and in fact I picked it up to laugh at it. However, Jiawa from Cloaset Voyage and Albert both saw something in it, and suggested that I give it a go.

I'm really glad that I listened to them now.

Daily Outfit: Lazy Lakeside Sunday

I spent the morning of this lazy Sunday lakeside, enjoying the beautiful crisp and clear day here in Canberra.

The Boyfriend and I decided to make the most of it and headed into Belconnen for breakfast at Ha Ha Bar, which is on the foreshore of Lake Giniderra. We had a relaxed breakfast, our first time for breakfast at Ha Ha Bar, and then after a brief stop at Bunnings for Blog supplies of all things, we headed home to enjoy the rest of our lazy Sunday.

Daily Outfit: Sports Luxe

I've always been curious about trying Sports Luxe as a style, and with incorporating this look into my own wardrobe.

This jersey was a last-ditch effort to try and salvage an otherwise dismal thrifting adventure (for me) that I had recently with Heather and Jiawa. My chief issue has always been that I'm just not sports savvy: It took me several Google searches to narrow down which team this jersey represents (the Dallas Cowboys) and then more to figure out which sport they play (Gridiron, apparently). Trying Sports Luxe as a look has always felt a little disingenuous to me.

Travel: Three Weeks to Go

This time in three weeks time, I will be aboard a plane headed for Singapore, for a three-hour layover. After that three hours it's back aboard and off to our main destination, Helsinki, Finland.

For anyone who has been following this Blog for some time, you will be aware that I am VERY late to the whole travelling abroad thing. I left Australia for the first time in 2013. 

Despite the fact that I've only left the country twice, and both flights were under 10 hours, I can safely say that I am a terrible traveler. I don't enjoy the actual travelling part in the slightest- planes are uncomfortable and other people are gross. So, seeing as I am now faced with two 20-hour plus layover flights, I figured it would be best to start taking matters into my own hands, and investing in some travel clothes.

Daily Outfit: Fashfest Day Five at East Hotel

I threw this daily outfit on in a matter of seconds as I was running around the house like a complete maniac trying to get my shit together and get to Kingston for Fashfest Day Five. I slept in after staying up late the night before editing photos for my re-cap (and having had several champagnes the night before), so I was a bit of a mess. 

I didn't even look at what I was wearing until I got to East Hotel.

Fashfest 2014: Day Five at East Hotel

Today I headed to East Hotel in Kingston for Day Five of Fashfest 2014.

Day five, presented by Hustle&Scout, was a unique opportunity for people to meet with the designers who showed their work at Fashfest 2014, to get up close and personal with the huge array of amazing garments, and of course to shop the runway for anything that you saw and fell in love with.

Daily Outfit: Navy wool

I realised that I have had this navy shawl-neck sweater sitting in my wardrobe, unworn, for a while now; and so I decided that today was the perfect time to drag it out and into circulation. It was overcast all day here in Canberra and I had to head into the city to meet with the guys from Braddon Tailors for a Designer Profile for Fashfest. I'm still a little under the weather, so keeping warm was absolutely essential.

Travel: Weekend in Sydney

I'm really stoked to be off to Sydney for the weekend with the Boyfriend today. We're staying right in the center of my favourite part of Sydney, the Haymarket. I love China Town and I can wander around for hours, so it is a realt treat for this little Gwei Lo. We've got a lot of eating activities planned, and not much else, but I will get to catch up with a few girlfriends, and most importantly spend some quality time with the Boyfriend before he's away for the next two weeks for work.

Daily Outfit: Sunday dinner casual

This evening the boyfriend and I headed into Belconnen for a quick dinner, which I figured was the perfect opportunity to road-test one of the four blazers I picked up at the Vinnies Monster Warehouse Sale yesterday. It was a nice evening and while I hadn't planned on shooting the outfit I was wearing, I thought it would be a waste of the outfit and the Lake Gininderra backdrop. As a result, these pictures were taken on my Nokia Lumia 925, and not with my camera.

Dining Out: Wonder Meals authentic Chinese cuisine, Belconnen

I have been curious about Wonder Meals in Belconnen for some time now. I had eaten at its predecessor many moons ago, and being something of fanatic for Chinese food, I was intrigued by the unassuming facade to the new place, and the crowds of Chinese patrons I've often chanced entering the restaurant as I've driven past.

With a danger to becoming one of those  occasional Foodie Bloggers who only ever say that the places that they eat at are amazing; Wonder Meals is AMAZING! 

The second I walked in the door and saw the fit-out, I was entranced. I was lucky enough to try Wonder Meals for the first time yesterday at lunch with a girlfriend of Chinese heritage, and we both had a really lovely time. We had the entire restaurant to ourselves for most of our meal, our food was brought to us promptly, everything was delicious, and it didn't cost much at all.

My friend and I poured over the menu, ad in the end ordered four dishes and a pot of Jasmine tea. The dishes we selected were:
Goutie (Pan-fried Dumplings)
Sauteed mutton with cumin
Fried snow peas with fragrant sauce
Fried eggplant with spicy salt

The dumplings were unlike any I have had before, which was a nice surprise. The mutton is the best I have had in Canberra to date, with other offerings having been incredibly greasy, where this dish was almost dry-fried and beautifully fragrant. The fried snow peas were delicious and perfectly cooked with enough crunch left in them, but I did find the sauce a little too viscous. The eggplant was again, perfectly cooked, and the spicy salt was delicious, though the batter could have been a little thinner. All in all, I had no actual complaints with my meal at all, and was eager to return and try more of what Wonder Meals has to offer. 

So eager, in fact, that I jumped at the opportunity to return this evening with a group of friends. There were nine of us in total and we ate like pigs  for little more than $30 a head, including drinks and a tip. I won't detail everything that we ate because I didn't have time to snap pictures (I was too busy wolfing down the delicious food); but I will share this hot tip: order the 'Deep-fried Tomatoes with Flavor'. This, as it turns out, is a desert dish. It is regular tomatoes you'd buy from the supermarket, lightly battered (much lighter than the picture above suggests!), deep fried, and served hot sprinkled with sugar. I hate tomatoes raw (I know, I'm a weird guy), and I had two helpings of this dish! It is kitchen alchemy! So get on it, because your taste buds will thank me! 

I really recommend that any Canberrans, but especially those living in or near Belconnen, get down to Wonder Meals and try some Chinese food that strays outside your Anglo comfort zones. Believe me, you won't regret it!

Wardrobe Stories: DIY applique decorated T-shirt

It has been a grey and miserable Saturday here today in Canberra, so I thought it was a perfect time to kick off my Wardrobe Stories again, as no one needs to see an Ensemble Post about my sweatpants.

This t-shirt is one of the first DIY projects I ever did. I purchased the shirt from the Bega Salvation Army store in high school for maybe $2.50? I grabbed it because it was blue and because it was already worn-in and exceptionally soft. I think it had a tag when I bought it but I cannot remember. I do, however, remember that I did not buy the shirt with a view to making anything out of it. I just liked the shade of blue.

Dining Out: Temporada, Civic, Canberra.

A week ago today, on their opening night no less, I was lucky enough to have dinner at Temporada with my best friend. We had no meal plans for the evening and were seeing Wolf Creek 2 at 9:20 at Palace Electric, so on a whim after reading HerCanberra’s tweets and sneak peek at the new restaurant; we decided to try our luck and see if we could be seated for a meal.

Daily Outfit: FashFest 2014 Model Casting at East Hotel, Kingston

Today I headed to East Hotel in Kingston for the Model Casting for FashFest 2014, Canberra's key fashion event. I mentioned on Twitter yesterday that I had no idea what to wear, and that I really didn't want to wind up looking like some creepy hanger-on or worse, some lech who'd just wandered in off the street.

FashFest 2014: Model Casting at East Hotel, Kingston

I didn't really know what to expect at the Model Casting for FashFest 2014, other than it was being held in a Hotel and that a record-breaking 140+ hopefuls had signed up to strut their stuff for a chance to walk in the clothes of Canberra's designers at this year's FashFest event.

Weekend Adventures: The Royal Canberra Show

Today I made my annual pilgrimage to the Royal Canberra Show.

I love the crazy carnival atmosphere of the Canberra Show, everything from the noise, the sights, the smells; right through to the queasy sick feeling you get watching people hurtle around on the rides or from the masses of deep fried carnival fare consumed. Going to the Show is something that I treat myself to and refuse to feel guilty about. It is one day a year where I do not ask myself how many calories are in something, whether I really need to eat that, or whether I probably shouldn't buy that.

Dining Out: Penny University, Kingston, Canberra

There have been a raft of new restaurants opening up across Canberra in the past twelve-months; and living as I do now in the wilds of Belconnen, I wasn't even aware that half of them existed.

This was the case with Penny University. I discovered it through reviews on Tara and Rachi's Blogs, and then fatefully a dear friend visited this weekend and the opportunity to check it out presented. I did not, however, foresee that I would be at Penny University twice in under 24-hours!

Daily Outfit: Cool blues for warmer days

Things are heating up again here in Canberra, and it looks like our two days of respite coolness will give way to a warm weekend. I've enjoyed the opportunity to sleep under the covers again and to go so far as wearing boots to work yesterday; but it seems as though that will be shortly lived for now as we head back into the high thirties next week.