Happiness is the Truth

Here we are! Back again after a somewhat extended break for the Christmas and New Year perid. The break was definitely more extended than I had anticipated it to be, but sometimes you just gotta go with the flow. I had roughly two weeks off work starting just prior to Christmas and well, it wasn't half bad just being a lazy sloth. I do it well. 

So now we find ourselves firmly planted in the year 2014. It can't be denied that the close of one year and the start of another bubbles up feelings and ideas inside of many that 'this year' will be their year. People write out their resolutions and resolve to be fitter or healthier or happier or more adventurous or...

It's of no surprise that there's an increase in the uptake of new gym memberships or that the major supermarkets will flog their reduced price nicotine replacement therapies for the first few weeks of the year. After all, new beginnings do bring a sense of hope for positive change and really, what's wrong with that? 

I'm not a person who makes resolutions, well not so much New Year's Resolutions. The way I see it, any day can be the 'New Year' for you to change something you don't like, to work on yourself, to look for a new job or whatever it may be that you just want to do. 

In saying that, it would be remiss of me to not acknowledge that personally this particular year holds some extra weight than usual. Reason being this is the year I bid farewell to my twenties and enter a new decade. There's something about moving from the age of twenty-nine to The Big 3-0 that is different for me to other birthdays. I feel that you can almost still consider your twenties to be part of your adolescent stage, perhaps 'senior adolescent', but once thirty comes around, well that to me is real adulthood. I feel like it kinda snuck on me and now all this talk about "oh yes, I might consider that in a couple of years when I'm older" has turned into "oh wait, that's actually now..."

It's enough to kick my butt into the next gear and really push me to focus on achieving my personal goals and to just stop hesitating. Even about little things. All last year I kept thinking about buying a bike but I never did. I don't know why I didn't, I just never did. But I'm getting a bike within the next couple of weeks and I am super excited! I can't wait to ride my deadly treadly on the mean streets of Perth. Okay, perhaps not the mean streets. I might just stick to the bike paths for now. 

I am happy with my life and its direction but I am definitely ready to seek out more and to put it really simply, just get shit done. Happiness is something that is very important to me. I rate happiness pretty highly and why not, when the state of being happy is pretty awesome. A lot of where my mind currently is in regard to all that I am working toward this year is rooted in adding to this current level of happiness in my life. It was perhaps then quite coincidental (or fortuitous or other similar adjective) that a package I received this week was centered around this theme of happiness. 

I have a quarterly subscription to a service known as (ta-da!) The Quarterly Co. The Quarterly Co is a subscription service that sends out packages specially curated by one of its contributors. Depending on your interests you could sign up for a subscription related to art or technology or music and so on. Their contributors vary from people such as Coco (Ice T's wife - Google her if you don't know), Jason Kottke (editor of kottke.org) and Pharrell Williams, which is the subscription I am currently signed up for. I'm actually about to sign up for my second subscription curated by Q-Tip, who is one of the members of the legendary hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest. 

 

 

 

Pharrell has so far put together three packages, I've received his second and third as I subscribed too late for the first mail out. I was actually really disappointed with his second package which consisted of a mini version of a chair he designed and a zip pull toy. Oh, and a printed copy of lyrics to a song never released. Yep, that was it. Two little toys. The response from most to that package seemed to be generally negative, going by social media. All packages ship with a special hash tag to use on various social media outlets, and from what I saw on Instagram most people were quite unhappy and I think rightly so.  I decided to stick it out for one more package and I think he, or his people, upped their game possibly in response to the feedback. I mean, really, how could you seriously think a mini chair and a zip pull toy cut it?! 

So this package has the theme of the five senses and focuses very much on happiness. It even includes a vinyl copy of his single Happy and a poster of a cheerful looking fellow with the words Happiness is the Truth emblazoned along the top. Obviously, the vinyl record and poster connect to senses of sound and sight.  Also included was a jar of truffle salt (the taste sense), a smiley face stress ball(the touch sense) and a yo-yo scent diffuser (the smell sense). The scent diffuser is interesting. It's not really a yo-yo but its design is shaped like one. You can twist one part of it off and inside is a sandstone onto which you drop some of the essential oils it comes with. It is described as being a portable scent diffuser. 

I'm not sure if I will continue my subscription for Pharrell's packages but I am really looking forward to the one put together by Q-Tip. I think the concept is quite cool and really is not at all dissimilar to the grocery dinner boxes or surprise beauty boxes that you can also sign up for. The draw card for me with the Quarterly service is that it is something compiled by a person that I admire or am a fan of and it's interesting to discover the sort of things that they dig.

Even though I haven't had the greatest experience with my Pharrell subscription, it's definitely something I would suggest people to check out.  I know that the package curated by Nina Garcia (creative director of Marie Claire and judge on Project Runway) was pretty freaking awesome.  Shipping from the US is steep though, however it is only a quarterly cost and you can cancel your subscription(s) at any time.

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A Merry Christmas to all

Tick tock, tick tock. The countdown is on. Christmas Eve is in full swing here. 

Wishing you all a beautiful Christmas. Be happy, be safe, be joyous and most of all, be thankful. 

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Get your Hustle on

Over the last couple of days the weather here in Perth has taken a turn for the hot, hot, hot.  Of course, it's summer but until the first few days of extremely warm weather hits you forget how hot our summers actually get.  If I at all forgot, definitely this last day or two reminded me.  I'm hoping to get some beach time in over the next couple of weeks as I finish up work for the year and have some time off work for the Christmas and New Year period.

If you read the last Christmas gift list post you'll know I listed the Hustle Bag on the gift list.  I'm back now to tell you more about it and why I love it so much.  Seriously, this thing is the bomb dot com.

So what is the Hustle Bag?  Very simply, it's an easy, functional and stylish way to keep your smartphone charged.  I have an iPhone 5s and all iPhones are notorious for being very poor with their battery life.  I don't know what other smartphone models are like, but iPhones suck for battery life.  They really do.  I keep a charger at work as I find I need to always charge it up toward the end of the day.  It's even worse when I'm out because what with all the selfie photo taking, checking in on Facebook and uploading on Instagram you find it seriously eats up your battery life, and what's a day or night out if you don't broadcast it to your social media channels?  Riiight?  I mean, what are you going to do when you don't have enough battery life to add that Valencia filter to that photo of you chugging down on a glass of champers.  You'd have to latergram it, and well, that sucks.  While I am on the subject on Instagram though, does anyone else find the app really does drain your battery quite a lot in comparison to other apps?
  

As we've established already, the battery life on an iPhone sucks and sometimes when I would be out, , especially when I'd been out all day and night, I'd end up having to not use my phone at all because I needed to conserve that last 20% of battery life in case I had to make an emergency phone call.  

No more!

The Hustle Bag keeps my pretty little phone juiced up and I don't have to concern myself about rationing my phone use.  The design of the bag is a sleek clutch style bag.  For women there is the leather bag which comes with a wristlet strap and a cross body strap and a faux leather clutch that has a zip pocket exterior and comes just with the wristlet strap.  For men there is a wallet style in a black or brown leather.

I went with the leather bag option, which is $249.  The faux leather clutch is $199 so for the additional $50 I think it's worth getting the leather bag and having the two straps makes it versatile for use.  For a more casual look it works well worn cross body and if I'm out at night and dressed up with the wristlet strap (or even without) it's a classic looking clutch.  The interior has a zip compartment and card slots.  I can comfortably fit into it my phone (of course!), keys, a small coin purse for money, lip gloss and a small tube of hand cream.  It won't hold a lot but I have taken it with me when I've been at work conferences and slipped it into my larger bag.  It's pretty slim line so it doesn't take up a lot of space doing that.  The leather bag currently comes in four different leathers and the faux leather has two colours, both in a snakeskin print.

Although I have an iPhone it is compatible with most popular smartphone models as the whole kit comes with different adaptors.  Being that it comes with the Apple lightning connectors it'll also juice up your other devices such as iPod and iPad.  Built into the bag is the battery pack, you can feel it through the back of the bag and to charge it all you have to do is place the entire bag over the charge page and it wirelessly charges the battery.  Technology, huh? 

According to their website a fully charged bag can recharge your phone up to 4 times, dependent on the model of the phone.  Personally with my 5s I find I can get two charges out of it, and the FAQ section on their website actually states that for an iPhone 5 it will probably get you two and a half charges.  

The first time I used it I took it with me to a conference, I think I had received it two days prior and was just dying to use it.  It worked out well because I always drain my battery when I'm at conferences, after all they can get pretty boring and that often results in aimlessly browsing Etsy or eBay.  I was also going out straight after that night so it definitely came in handy.  I got a lot of positive comments about it with everyone saying what a good idea it was.

I like using mine, and because I chose the beige leather it goes with any outfit and as I said earlier, depending on how I wear it works dressed up or down.  My only gripe is that the leather seems to attract a lot of dirt.  Maybe I'm just a grubbier person that I think I am.  I don't know.  I just notice that it seems to get a bit grubby so I'm careful with where I place it.  I am thinking it might be due to the softness and texture of the leather though.  Sometimes with a softer leather when you get any dirt specks on it, it can mark easily whereas with harder or coated leathers it's a bit different.  The other thing I notice is that when I do have my phone plugged in to charge it sometimes will stop and start charging, which I can tell by the noticeable little 'ding' that sounds when an iPhone is plugged in to charge.  I actually have this issue with my charger that I keep at work.  I think it has something to do with the output power supply, I read that on one of the Apple support forums when I googled it and I've always noticed it to happen when I'm charging with a non-Apple charging cable.  It's happened with all my previous iPhones.  Not a huge deal to me though.

The other great thing about the Hustle Bag is that it is a home grown creation and even better, based here in Perth!  So now, what are you waiting for?  Get a hustle on and order one for yourself.  Your social media, mobile shopping loving self with thank you for it.  Available via the Hustle Bag website. 

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It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...Part 3

A thing or two about today.  It's 11 December 2013.  That's 11/12/13.  That also means in two weeks it is Christmas.  In two weeks IT WILL BE CHRISTMAS!!!  Whaaaaat?!  I still don't comprehend that.  I only have my mum to buy for so it's okay for me that I haven't started my Christmas shopping, but I have no idea what to get her this year.  If anyone has any suggestions, please do send them my way.

Now this gift list was an easy one.  Why?  It's my gift list for all the lovely ladies and I just compiled the things I'd like Santa to throw down my chimney.  Perhaps not throw down.  Gently place down my chimney.  Santa is probably going to have to be me though, and well, that's not quite as fun or special.  I guess that's just the way the Christmas cookie crumbles.

Photo taken from www.hustlebag.com

The Hustle Bag!  I do have a post specifically about the Hustle Bag coming up very soon, but in the meantime, take my word for how awesome this is.  The bag shown above is the exact one I have in beige python texture leather.  It comes with a long cross body strap and a wristlet strap and is a complete handy dandy little thing to have on your nights out.  The first time I used mine was at a conference I attended and I received a lot of positive remarks about it AND it kept my phone charged.  Which is important because we all know how boring conferences can be and browsing online is generally the most undertaken activity at a conference.  It is compatible with pretty much all smartphone models and comes with the appropriate cable so you could even be an angel lifesaver amongst your friends and carry them with you to help juice their phones up when in need.  The leather bag is $249 and faux leather is $199.

Photo taken from http://www.aristidesfinejewels.com

http://www.aristidesfinejewels.com

Faith and Love bracelets from Claire Aristides.  I actually want both to wear together.  They are 9 carat gold, available in all types - rose, yellow and white and are priced from $245 to $255 depending on the one you choose.  The Faith bracelet pictured is in yellow gold, and the Love bracelet is in rose gold.  If these aren't to your liking, they also have many other gorgeous little bracelets.  I also like the initial and horseshoe bracelets.  They're all just so sweet.

Photo taken from www.saksfifthavenue.com

THESE!!!  These Sergio Rossi filigree butterfly laser cut sandals are beyond words.  Just spectacular, of course with a price tag to match.  However if Santa is feeling super generous because you've been super good all year, then that's just your luck.  I have the Chloris sandal in gold which has a laser cut floral design and I love them so.  Not only that, but they're really comfortable.  These would be best friends with my Chloris, I am sure.  After all, butterflies love flowers.

Photo taken from www.pembaboutique.com

Photo taken from www.pembaboutique.com

Christmas in Australia means hot weather.  To my readers in the northern hemisphere, I do understand you're probably not wanting to wear shorts right now, but let me tell you, it's heating up where I am.  These shorts from Pemba Boutique are very cute, I especially love the various prints with the bobble trim.  There are quite a few different styles on their website and are priced from about $30 to $35.  My favourites are the fun prints, such as the pineapple pair above.  They also have some in watermelon and strawberry prints.  Paired with a plain tank or tee and some flats, it's a perfect summer outfit.

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They call him Big El

I greatly dig the fact that over the last year or two we've had some pretty good Mexican restaurants opening up around town. There was a period of time in my early twenties when I was absolutely cray cray for Mexican and would regularly head to Pancho's in Victoria Park or Mexican Kitchen in Fremantle. I remember once upon a time when the Mexican dining choices we had in Perth were fairly limited to these establishments and also the likes of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (hello, blast from the past!) and Acapulco Annie's. 

I'm glad that going out to eat Mexican no longer means overly cheesey and sour cream laden tacos that are more about the heat rather than the actual flavours of the spices.  Pancho's is no longer my Mexican of choice.

Most would be familiar with El Publico in Mount Lawley and La Cholita in Northbridge, both serving dishes designed to be shared and possessing some pretty impressive alcohol menus. Both also do not take bookings which is somewhat of a bugbear of mine. Sometimes you can't wait around for an hour or two (or even more) hoping that you will be bestowed with the blessing of a table. 

Big El's Latin American Fusion (we shall call him Big El for short) is new kid in the playground, taking up residence in the location once occupied by Sake Bar on Francis Street in Northbridge. I actually don't know what the deal is with bookings but we were there for a function and there was no problem with having a booking for that accepted. I don't know if that may be different for smaller groups of diners.

My friend's partner was celebrating his entrance into a new decade and I was helping her with organizing a special surprise birthday dinner for him while they were living it up at Marina Bay Sands.  I love organizing events though.  I even start thinking about my own birthday months and months in advance.  Sometimes I think event and party planning would be something I could do and then I think about having to deal with crazy pedantic people.  I'm a crazy pedantic person.  I don't know if I'd want to deal with me if I wasn't me.

From the time I contacted Big El's they were really helpful in accommodating me as well as giving some good advice in terms of how to organize the food orders.  Before settling on Big El's I had contacted a few other places and it's pretty disappointing that some did not even get back to me.  What actually made me think of suggesting Big El's to my friend is that I had heard of the place because I knew they had their artwork done by Perth artist Joseph Boin AKA Destroy so that in itself gave it some brownie points from the outset.

On the night there was 18 of us, and we were seated at the back of the restaurant.  There is a separate elevated dining area on one side that I assume is also used for private functions and group bookings and booth style seating along the other side.  It was a Wednesday night and fairly busy, however the staff were attentive and the service could not be faulted.  

Their menu is also designed to be shared and for starters we ordered a few serves each of the chorizo chiplets, elotes callejeros (street corn), nacho bowls and tortilla chiplets which we had served with chilli con queso and guacamole.  We did not order it, but they have a Mexican hot dog on their menu and the description of it alone makes me want it.  Do yourself a favour and head to their website and check it out for yourself.  I love a bit of innuendo and smut.  Actually, don't check it out if smut is not your thing.

 

 

 

 

These starters came out quickly and we enjoyed them while quenching our thirst with their skulls of mixed spirits.  We ordered a couple of skulls of Hendricks gin and tonic and Grey Goose vodka and cranberry.  The skulls are enough for five drinks and are priced at $35.  We also ordered some jugs of lime and mango frozen margaritas which are made with Patron tequila, with these priced at $24.  The margaritas were yummy but I was a bit sad as I was expecting an actual jug but they were served in something more like a carafe, which dashed the vision in my mind of drinking from a communal jug with multiple straws.  I won't hold that against them though.

They call me Hendricks Lamar

To follow the starters were tacos.  There are four different fillings you can choose from, which are crispy chicken, slow cooked pulled beef, ginger salmon and black bean.  We went with the chicken, beef and salmon.  They had a lot of different sauces and because we ordered so many tacos we were able to have each of the sauces.  I really like the idea of building your own taco and being able to choose your desired filling, sauce and salsa.  Oh, we had the mango and jalapeno and tomato and garlic salsas.  That mango salsa was so good.

I found the salmon to be on the dry side, but other than that I enjoyed all of the food.  It definitely has the flavour as well as the heat - if you want it.  It's not just chilli, chilli and more chilli but no real flavour.  The chilli con queso dip was so very yummy, and the guacamole is made for you at the table.  Or you can do it yourself if you wish.  The pulled beef was my favourite of our filling choices.  As you should expect with any slow cooked meat, it was very tender and full of flavour.  

Oh Lord Jesus, it's a fire!

At the end of the night they served the birthday boy a special birthday drink on the house, which was very nice of them.  It was massive!  It came out on fire! It is called Down the Rabbit Hole on their menu, but I'm not sure ordinarily if it's as big as they made it for him. 

Like a knife through the heart!  If you're wondering about the message on the cake it's a reference to a hip hop classic.

The total bill came to just over $600, which I think is pretty damn good considering we were all full at the end of the night and had ordered quite a few of the skulls and jugs.  I definitely will return to Big El's as there's a few other items on the menu I'd like to try, the smutty hot dog being at the top of the list.

Oh and here I am.  What did I wear?  I was Bruug'd out, in their Island top and Nightowl skirt.  Check the clutch, it's my Hustle Bag which I received a couple of weeks ago and LOVE!  I will write a post about the greatness of the Hustle Bag soon, but for now, ladies you definitely should get one.  No more low battery! 

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It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...Part 2

Home is where the heart is.  That's how the saying goes.  And for house and home is where I find myself wanting to buy all sorts of wonderful things.  Does anyone else have this obsession over homewares?  I don't know exactly what it is, but I've always loved all types of homewares and from years ago would find myself buying things that I'd keep for some point in the future.  I even find myself trawling eBay or Gumtree and finding these beautiful vintage or recycled pieces and think "yep, I'm gonna buy that" and then I realize, I don't have space for bookshelf that is many metres long and high complete with a ladder.  Nor do I have the means to transport this oversized bookshelf to my house.  That's the magnetic pull of homewares.  It's almost as bad shoes.  Almost.

It would be pretty easy to have a separate Christmas wishlist filled entirely of delightful little things that would be at home in the house of my dreams - you know, the one that looks like it could grace the pages of Modern Home magazine.  Until that time comes, I do still have a wishlist.  

Photo taken from www.moroccanpouffe.com.au

Moroccan pouffes!  I have loved these leather pouffes for some time, which are essentially like a much more stylish version of the good old beanbag.  Upholstered in leather and coming in various colours, they are undeniably more stylish than the beanbag of your childhood.  These pouffes are by Mykela Rose and are the real deal from Morocco.  Priced at $189 each, they come in a range of beautiful colours as well as metallics, so you'll definitely find one that you love and fits your home perfectly.  The stitch pattern on top of the pouffes is beautiful and with some of the pouffes, is done in a contrasting colour.

 

Photos taken from www.patriciafernandes.com.au

These ceramics handmade by Patricia Fernandes are pretty and functional!  Double whammy!  I own the Meek Beakers (the first photo) but I'd also like to have a couple of the platters.  This may make me sound very stupid, but I had no idea I could actually bake in the dishes.  So essentially, almost every piece can be baked in, limited only by your culinary imagination.  The colour choices range from the neutral to the bright, I like the blue hues myself.  They all work well together which means you can mix and match your pieces as well.

Photos taken from www.iseenoise.com

  

I like having all sorts of art and prints.  In fact, I have way too much and more than I can actually all display at the one time.  My tastes are pretty eclectic - vintage prints, graffiti, photography and almost everything in between.  I like pretty and feminine stuff, such as the prints above from I See Noise and something a little bit different and special such as below by So Fresh Peche, which is the exact one I personally own.  I love the heart shaped fingerprint 'balloon'. 

I think art is something that should be accessible to all and some of my favourite pieces are those that cost me the least - in fact, sometimes the framing costs more!  But if you love it, and it speaks to you, it doesn't matter how much or little it costs.  What does matter is that you smile every time you pass it on your wall.

At the moment, I See Noise is having a sale with all remaining stock discounted by 50% in preparation for the new cardstock to be released in December.  I could not see the print I own on the So Fresh Peche website, but I'm sure you could enquire directly of its availability. 

 

Photo taken from www.bombardierdesigns.com.au

Scented soy candles are a must for me.  I only like to burn soy.  I'm not a fan of paraffin wax candles and in my experience, have always found that soy candles burn much nicer than those made of paraffin wax.  I actually have been burning a paraffin wax candle that I received as a gift and in comparison to my soy candles, it has burnt and melt so messily and this has always been my experience with paraffin wax.  

The design of the candles by Bombardier Designs is simple, yet stylish, with its monochromatic and unfussy labels.  You can even have them made custom for you to suit your next special occasion!  Now that's one party favour or wedding bomboniere I wouldn't mind receiving.  You can't go wrong with French Pear or French Vanilla (these two scents are on constant rotation at my house) but there's plenty other gorgeous scents to choose from.

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Blow (Dry) and Go

Hello, hello, how's it been going?

Firstly, who has attended a Beyoncé concert while she's been touring Australia?! I saw her on Friday night after I was able to secure some last minute tickets. I was pretty cut when I was unable to purchase them when the first Perth show was announced, and then during the time the second show was announced I was in the Kimberley and cut off from the rest of the world. I was sure that I had missed out entirely until this week when some further tickets were released on Ticketek. To be honest, how does that even happen? I'm not complaining though. Beyoncé did what she does best and put on a great show although I do admit that the concert during her 2009 tour was better than this one.

Regardless, watching Mrs Carter perform for an hour or two is time well spent.  The last time she performed in Perth I had tickets that got me to the front of the stage but this time I was in the gold seated section in the upper level.  One thing I don't understand are those people who attend concerts and dislike others who choose to stand up and dance.  Hellooooo...it is a concert?!  A group a few seats away from us were yelled at to sit down when they danced during some of her songs. Beyoncé herself didn't dance that much, not to the extent of her other performances, I wonder if that is an indicator of a little somethin' somethin' going on?  Hmmm.

Well known for her trademark long blonde locks, she was cropped short again that night.  I actually loved that sleek short bob she sported for a short time and I would love to do that with my own hair but my naturally curly hair follicles tell me it's not going to happen.  At least not with my natural hair.  The upkeep on that 'do is more than I'm prepared to give.  However, I'm sure if I had an army of people as she does I could probably pull it off.

Until the day that I do possess a Beyoncé-worthy army of hair stylists, I have to settle for the temporary sleekness achieved from a great blow dry.  Being absolutely useless with my own hair, this only ever happens when I make the visit to my hairdresser for a bit of heated styling action.  Although I am very happy with my regular hairdresser, it's not always easy to get to her on the odd occasions when I want to have my hair styled being that I work in the city and her salon is out in the burbs.  

Enter Blow Dry Bar.

What a ridiculously smart and cool concept!  Sometimes all you want is for your hair to be blow dried or styled.  You don't always want the works, sometimes you just want your hair to look nice for dinner that night or a weekend out and what better than an express salon where you can get your hair blow dried within the space of half an hour and at a reasonable price?  

In Perth there is only one BDB so far, located in the city in the Raine Square complex.  This works well for me.  It's five minutes to walk from my office to the salon, which means I can get my hair did during my lunch break or after work.  I went for the first time this week and had my hair blow dried and tonged by Jessi to the perfectly sleek and straight look that I so love and long for.  

The blow dry is $40, which includes the shampooing and head massage and you can have your hair blow dried straight or curly.  They do other styling as well, such as up-dos, and your general salon services such as cutting and colouring.  I would definitely be interested in trying them out for a cut and colour, even though I am loyal to my hairdresser, but just for research purposes of course!

The super convenient city location means that I can easily get my straight locks for a night out.  It would be great if in the near future more locations opened in Perth, but for now, check out their Raine Square location especially if you work in the CBD.  

 

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