Life of late

Here's some glimpses of my life lately...

Loving the cooler weather in Brisbane at the moment. I have so many jackets, blazers, cardi's etc and yet I still continue to buy more! I scored this stripey number from Ezibuy for a steal ($18). Wearing it with dark denim jeans, pink top and Red Phoenix Emporium jewels. I'm loving the RPE girls and their range. They are locals and so so talented!

We dragged out the flannelette this week. Flanny pj's and sheets are the business. Even Miss L's pj's match our sheets!

I whipped up a baked cheesecake with a blueberry topping on Sunday arvo. We are still ploughing our way through it. Its super delicious, especially with the chocolate icecream we have stashed in the freezer.

Miss L has been on a rollercoaster ride of sickness of late... Ear infection, cold and mouth ulcers all in the matter of a few weeks. She has one illness, we have a week of happy, healthy Miss L, and then it starts all over again. Sigh. Day care is taking its toll on all of us! But at least we're building up that little immune system.

Miss L's favourite 'toy' at the moment is a balloon or 'bubble' as she calls it. Its so adorable. And cheap! But is hard to control when we're out and about - some shops have balloons set up as part of their display and Miss L is always very insistent on obtaining one. She knows what she wants and she will not stop until she gets it.

She's also into climbing. On everything. Dishwasher included.

This was when she had her ear infection. She just lay on her pillow watching her favourite show - Small Potatoes. Poor little love.

 And her hair is long enough to rock a little pony tail now. She is growing up so fast. I'm trying to slow down and soak up all of her during this tiny person phase... She's not walking yet, but that's ok with me. I've still got my baby for a bit longer.

C xo

The Fashion Workshop

I went to a group styling session at my local Westfield on the weekend. It cost $5, which got you 1 hour with the head stylist, talking about and reviewing the hottest trends as modelled by a very tall model, a cupcake from Shingle Inn, a bottle of water/mineral water, and a goodie bag filled with various samples and discount vouchers.

To say that I was excited about the 'event' is an understatement. I love fashion and I thrive on getting inspiration from other stylish women, so this was definitely my cup of tea.

But before the event I was so freakin' worried about what to wear. Do you notice that often all the big fashion designers and people in fashion tend to wear black? Yeah, me too. And surely they are in the know? So I opted for a black top from Kmart that I've had for yonks, and a patterned Easton Pearson silk skirt that I picked up for a steal from David Jones, with my trusty Wittner wedges and a necklace I made myself.

See? This is my outfit.

So, the session was good, and informative, and I got some great outfit inspiration and ideas about where to purchase budget friendly items, but I left feeling a bit confused and down-trodden about my own outfit choices.

But first, lets talk about this seasons 'Hero Pieces' (as the stylist liked to call them). She ran through 3 looks for each item (one for work, casual and evening) so the model really earned her pay that day!

1) Pleat print skirt from Diana Ferrari (I can't find a pic of this, but it was black with a camel coloured flower print all over it)  - this was used to demonstrate how to do the 'print clash' trend. The way to pull off this trend is to link your two pieces via pattern and/or colour, but we all knew that, right?

Image via ASOS

 I love this look but don't think I could pull it off confidently

2) Coloured jeans - this was where my self doubt set in. The stylist said to stick to muted tones like dark mulberry, navy and these teal ones from Sussan

This was the casual look - love the silver cuffs & snake print bag!

She said the brighter colours, like red, are hard to wear and will bring a lot of attention to your legs. I cringed and sunk back into my chair... me, the owner of BRIGHT RED JEANS! Eeek. Oops. I later told her that I was an owner of red jeans and she advised that it was ok to wear red jeans so long as I was a person that liked (and usually wore) bright colours and wore them confidently. I nodded 'yes' and 'yes'. I like colour. I wear my red jeans confidently. Phew! But then she said she wouldn't team black or white with red jeans as there was too much of a high contrast against the red, and would instead team camel, brown and neutrals with them. What? Really? I always wear black or white, or black and white in the form of a striped top with my red jeans. Uh oh. I've been doing it all wrong. But hang on, what about these stylish women? They can't all be doing it wrong too?

Miranda Kerr via Pinterest

Lauren Conrad via Pinterest

So then I got really worried about what to wear with my red jeans... And then through the magic that is Pinterest, I found this:

Brillo. Wear with white, ivory, blush, nude, khaki, chambray, leopard, cheetah, python, black.

via Pinterest

3) Patterned tights - the tights were only subtly patterned, which the stylist said is much better for people with chunky legs (aka, moi).

4) Tailored pants - or 'a tapered pant' as the stylist put it. These were an interesting item to see styled up and one that I never would have considered for myself. The pants they used were from Portmans. These ones:

They have a pleat at the front, which scared me slightly as I have a tummy and have always steered clear of anything that might accentuate it. But the stylist assured me I could wear these, as the pleats have been sewn flat/shut at the tummy and therefore create a smooth finish..

Casual look

Evening look

So, all in all, it was a good session. Some other little pearlers the stylist dropped into the session include:

+ Layer with neutral tones, not just black. This is particularly relevant to wearing black tights and a dress. Like this:

+ Black doesn't suit a lot of people (despite the stylist herself wearing head to toe black AND all of her assistants wearing it too)
+ If you're going to wear all black, incorporate different textures e.g. lace, matte fabric, shiny leather look fabric, etc
+ Snake print will be big for spring/summer so buy up now
+ Bracelet sleeve lengths in tops/dresses are very flattering as our wrists are the thinnest part of our arms and it highlights this feature

She also got me thinking about where I buy my items from. The session highlighted the fact that you don't have to spend a lot of money to look good. Even one of the stylists assistants was wearing $15 leather look leggings from Cotton On and $30 Lady Gaga-esque booties from Payless Shoes. She proclaimed the shoes to be super comfy, but when I went to try them on I discovered that my chubby little foot is too wide for the shoe and hence they were not super comfy. Never fear, I will not give up on the cheap shoe shop.

So, all in all it was a good session and I'll definitely go to one next season. If you live near a Westfield, check out their website and the Fashion Services they offer. Book yourself into a fashion workshop for some new season inspiration!

C xo

How was your weekend?

Mine was jam packed.

We woke up to lots of rain on Saturday morning and thought we'd have to cancel our trip to the markets, but it quickly cleared up, so off we went - just me and my sister J and H. Mr B stayed at home with Miss L. Thanks hon!

I wore this:

Stripes and florals! I kept the colours similar so it wasn't too clashy.
Top: Sportsgirl
Skirt: Vintage

My sisters bought Mum and I a plant each for Christmas. I scored this little maidenhair fern which I think will be so sweet in a ceramic pot in the spare room/study.

We got big coffees from the Columbian coffee man. I bought my MIL some nice coffee for her birthday and I also got some Mexican Chilli Hot Chocolate mix as well. Mmmmmm. We also stocked up on fresh fruit and veg, and some yummy sourdough bread. Delish!

Saturday arvo was spent busily tidying up the house before MIL descended upon us. It was a flying visit from her as she jet-setted off to Cairns to visit her family up north before Christmas. Saturday night we ordered Earth n' Sea pizzas and started watching Sherlock Holmes (with Downey-Jnr and Law) but we all started dozing off around 8:30pm so didn't get to finish it!

Sunday was a day around the house. We dropped MIL at the airport, and then had to make a second dash to the airport in the arvo for Mr B's cousin who stayed with us the night.

We have had lots of visitors in the B household!

Today Mum, J, H, Miss L and I headed off to 1888 Pizzeria at The Barracks for lunch. So yummy! We then hot footed it to Garden City for a spot of Christmas shopping before coming home and wrapping some pressies. J and H are staying with Mum for a few nights, so we've got the house to ourselves. As much as I love having visitors, its also nice just to have the three of us in the house.

I made some faux chicken pies for dinner tonight - they are quick and delicious but super bad for you because of all the puff pastry! Why does pastry taste so good?

About to go into the oven. A spare one for Mr B's lunch tomorrow!

I just cooked up some chopped chicken and seasoned it with chilli flakes, all purpose season and lemon pepper, added some peas, sweet potato (to mine only, Mr B does not like sweet potato) and some grated cheese - I twisted up the puff pastry and sprinkled them with sesame seeds and left over grated cheese and popped them in a very hot oven for 10 minutes. And there you have it. An easy and tasty dinner.

I served mine with lashings of sweet chilli sauce

And, I think I found my inspiration for starting on the weight loss train... A photo. A photo of me from behind. A photo that I am too ashamed to post on here because its THAT BAD. My big fat butt in all its glory. Oh, the shame.

My sister J took the photo before we headed off on an arvo walk on Friday. The very day I whinged about how fat and yuck I felt. Uggh. I'm going to introduce a morning walk tomorrow. It means our little morning routine will change, but change is good, right?

C xo

Style vs Trends

Do you dress for style or trends? Or a mixture of both?

I like to think that I dress for style with a sprinkling of trend driven stuff thrown in for good measure.

I'm a big believer in dressing for your shape and wearing clothes that fit you properly, rather than wearing the latest and greatest colour/skirt/top/pant etc just because its 'in'.

I love looking at street style blogs for fashion inspiration. Here are a few of my faves:

Vanessa Jackman is an Australian photographer and has a keen eye for style. She often photographs at all of the big fashion shows.

via Vanessa Jackman

Lucy Laucht is a British girl who has lived in Brisbane, and now lives in New York. She has the most awesome sense of style and is great at mixing high street fashion with vintage finds and designer goodies. p.s. and she owns that awesome Mulberry bag that I so covet! Jealous!

via Lucy Laucht

Dear Golden  (Lauren) has THE most amazing vintage style. She almost never ever buys anything new, and she always looks great. Her outfit posts are few and far between, but she hand picks all of the vintage items that you can buy in her etsy store and these items are often in her wardrobe for a while first before she sells them, so you know they're going to be good. My sister J loves this vintage etsy store and has bought a smattering of lovely vintage items from here.

via Dear Golden

And here are a few images that are inspiring me right now:

All images via Pinterest

Do you like to dress for style or for trend? Where do you get your fashion inspiration from?

C xo

Fashion Friday: Stars and Stripes

I have been watching The Today Show all week - they are in New York and its making me wish I was back there too. Absolutely love that place.

So today I whipped out some stars and stripes in a homage to the good ol' US of A.

Necklace: Made by me!
T-shirt: Witchery
Skirt & belt: Cue
Shoes: Seed Heritage

Have a happy weekend y'all!

C xo

3 hours of bliss

3 hours. To ourselves. Without baby. It was bliss. Here's a recap on the night - the outfits, the food, the arguments haha.

I wore this:

Dress: Leona Edmiston
Brooch to hold together dress so as not to flash the waiter: Mimco
Shoes: Martinez Valero
Earrings: My vintage style chandelier earrings worn on my wedding day. Can't quite remember wear I got them!
Clutch (lying on messy bed): Leona Edmiston

Mr B wore Ben Sherman shirt and Levi (I think) jeans

We arrived at the restaurant (Alchemy) around 7:30pm and hit the bar for a drink. As decided in the car, Mr B was to be the designated driver, so I could drink to my hearts content (which means having about 2 drinks. I am such a cadbury).

I ordered a Lychee Lust cocktail and Mr B went for a Peroni Leggera. Then we went to our table. We had an excellent view of the Story Bridge.

We ordered our entree and mains. I got the scallops for entree and lamb for main. Both excellent, especially the scallops. Mr B had a beef-o-rama and ordered ribs for entree and Alchemy's signature beef cheeks for main. I would have had photos to show you, but Mr B largely protested my photo taking at dinner and jested with me that it was obvious I don't come into the city very often nor go out to fancy restaurants (he works in the city and often dines out for work related purposes). Hence the argument portion of the evening. Despite this, nearly every couple around us was either taking photos of their food or of the view. So Mr B had to pull his head in. And I took a photo of my dessert, complete with 'Happy Anniverary' written in chocolate. I resisted the urge to swipe that chocolate away with my finger. I ordered a chocolate honeycomb bar and Mr B got the souffle of caramelised apple. I even scored a glass of dessert wine compliments of the house.

Overall an excellent dining experience. Food was good. Company was even better. We had a great time making up the background story of all the other diners in the restaurant, especially the 40 something old woman dating the at least 60 something old man flashing around his money and buying expensive caviar and vodka.

C xo

Fashion Friday: Let's put it to a vote

So, my slopping around the house outfit today is highly unworthy of a Fashion Friday blog post, hence why I thought I'd do something a little different today. Mr B and I are going out on our anniversary dinner date tomorrow night at a fancy schmancy restaurant in the city, so I need you to help me choose what to wear.

Here are the options:

Outfit 1:
Black dress, blue heels

Outfit 2:

Watermelon red dress & black sparkly heels

Outfit 3:
Pale pink & lace dress and pink sparkly wedges

Send me your vote in the comments box below!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend filled with fun, family, food and friends.

C xo

Fashion Friday: Denim shirt

Shirt: Witchery
Skirt: Country Road
Belt: Forever New
Shoes: Wittner

Quick post today. Busy busy busy. Preparations are underway for my brother in laws wedding tomorrow. Hair appointment is booked for this morning. The out-laws are babysitting Little Miss L while i'm there. Then we're off to the airport to pick up the relos and then we'll drop everyone off at the hotel. Looking forward to the wedding so much! Hope you have a good weekend too.

C xo

Fashion Friday: Comfy

Today Miss L and I are venturing over to the north side of Brisbane for a play date with my beautiful God son and his lovely Mummy. Can't wait. So today's Fashion Friday post is all about comfort. I whipped out my trusty leggings and this no-iron Metalicus dresss.

Dress: Metalicus
Cardi: Veronika Maine (I do own a lot of cardigans don't I?)
Leggings: Ezibuy
Necklace: Vintage - bought from a crazy old lady at the Fortitude Valley markets many moons ago

What have you got planned for the weekend? Mr B is having the boys over tonight for footy and pizza, and tomorrow we are celebrating a friends birthday with a BBQ.

C xo

Not Pants

Ok, ready for my fashion gripe of the day? Leggings are not pants people, NOT pants. Uggh. I dislike this 'look' immensely. A number of girls at my local shopping haunt can often be seen sporting this look, and no, not in a sporty/gym sense which is totally fine. They wear them like they would wear jeans. Oh, and don't even get me started on jeggings... Leggings are not pants, they are designed to wear underneath things, i.e. tunics, shift dresses, long t-shirts.

This is how I would style leggings for work wear and for casual:

Is everyone else super excited about Beyonce and Jay-Z's baby news?!! I can't wait to see her pregnancy fashion sense and how she transitions into motherhood. I love a good pregnancy announcement, especially in the celeb world.

C xo

Wear Now Wear Later: Summer Dress

On this dreary old rainy day in Brisbane, all I can think is 'hurry up summer!!!'. I desperately want the warmer weather to arrive as I have so many lovely summery dresses and skirts just sitting in my cupboard begging me to wear them... So I thought, why not wear my summery dresses now and just 'winterize' them? That way I'm getting maximum use of my wardrobe.

So here is an example of how I'd style up a summery dress to wear now, and then wear later.

C xo

Wear Now Wear Later: Summer Dress by cathb featuring a fitted leather jacket

I heart you MBFF

So, I channeled my inner Anna Wintour and attended the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Festival Brisbane at Southbank on Saturday. It has become an annual event for my friend K and I. Last year we were fortunate enough to attend three live fashion parades, however this year we were less organised and could only get tickets to one show on Saturday night.

Source: MBFF.com.au

Firstly, our outfits. I decided to wear a dress and jacket that I bought in NY last year. The dress has 3/4 sleeves and a blue and black pattern. The jacket is navy blue and a princess style cut with an a-line skirt. I wore vintage navy blue suede heels that I bought at the Vintage Fashion Fair earlier this year. Refer to photos below (I forgot to take photos on the night so had to take some photos on Sunday morning - note Miss L lounging on our bed in the background!!!). My fashion partner in crime, K, was chic in black in a gorgeous black a-line dress she also bought overseas (in London if I'm correct), hot Nine West heels from NY and gorgeous vintage black accessories with gold accents (sorry, I didn't get a photo of K's outfit - I know, I know, but I'm still in the early phases of this blog stuff!).

Well, MBFF didn't disappoint. We managed to score front row seats right next to where the models walk out. We could see the beautiful detailing on all of the clothes, but also the spray tan smears and dodgy workmanship of added metal detailing on the models shoes that kept falling off and causing runway hazards (luckily there were no casualties). We were offered San Pellegrino drinks by European accented men whilst waiting for the show to start. We sipped our drinks and sussed out the fashion choices of our fellow Brisbane-ites, and marvelled over the raised and lit up runway (an improvement on last years black carpet runway). 

Dogstar's military punk and asymmetrical tailoring kicked off the show. We also saw Neon Heartache's cut out dresses in dark tones, flowy dresses from Talulah, Chasing Bow boutiques jumpsuits and dresses in abstract prints, and lastly Justine Davis' summer leather (yeah, we were a bit unsure about this too), flowy neon pleated maxi skirts, and crazy wonder woman style cuffs.  You can view photos of the designers runway shows here

And in a heartbeat, it was all over. Our glimpse into the glitz and glamour of fashion week in Brisbane was over for 2011... so off to the bar we went for one last champagne, a goss and some model spotting before going home.

Its great to see Brisbane keeping up with the fashionable times, holding a 'world class' event and showcasing some great Aussie (and Brisbane based) designers. I heart you MBFF. Until next year...

C xo