formalities

22/11/13

How ever many days, weeks or months of preparation to produce the perfect look for the perfect night, was washed away by one of this year's heaviest rainfalls. My spirits were definitely dampened as the combination of horrendous traffic jams and torrential rain forced me to get ready in 20 minutes and leap through puddles whilst trying not to ruin my dress and flashing everyone at the same time. On any ordinary day, my hand eye coordination is already embarrassing enough. So you can imagine how well I managed trying to keep my dress off the ground, clutch in my hand, and hair not looking like I'd walked through a hurricane (despite the hairdresser using about half a can of hairspray on it).

All in all, it was definitely a night that I'll always remember.

le macaron

24/11/13

Today was the annual 'shardy' get together.
'Shardy' was the group name Diana came up with in year 9, composed of the first letter of Sabrina, Helen, Anita (me), Renee, Diana and Yvonne (ironic that the founder of the group wasn't even there for this momentous occasion).

In a nutshell, we basically spent the day gossiping (as girls do), baking macarons, refusing to move from Helen's ridiculously comfortable couch, taking photos of the macarons and staring at them for a while because they were just too beautiful to eat!

Enjoy!

"Can I call you Miss 'Nita'?"

I'm no long unemployed! *happy dance*

Working with the year 5/6 kids today reminded me of what it was like to be a kid again. And also what the difference was between simple, compound and complex sentences. Teaching primary school kids isn't as easy as it sounds when you've 1) forgotten all the basics 2) become accustomed to just apply the steps rather than question why it's done that way. Does that make sense?

When you ask your student that, you secretly pray inside that they do because there's only so many ways for you to rephrase and simplify it further.

Another perk of being a "teacher" is that I can finally wear the clothes in my closet that are too "librarian-like" to wear out. You will see that majority of the clothes in my closet actually fall under that category.

Maybe this will give me an excuse (and expense) to indulge myself in more quirky-vintage prints and colours... 

Dress: Thrifted (Camilla and Marc) | Bag: Thrifted | Tights: Equip | Boots: Rubi Shoes

formal shopping

10/11/13

Just going to put it out there. Formal shopping is a downright drag. 

A few months ago I could not wait to get out of the house and start shopping for my formal dress. These days, the idea of spending hours upon hours furiously scouring the racks in search for a decent dress, makes me want to pull my eyeball out of its socket (not pretty). At times like these, I wish I was born a male. Honestly, it is so easy finding proper formal attire for the male species. For $300 or less you could have your shirt, trousers, jacket, tie and belt sorted. And if you have a parent with exceptional bargaining abilities, you may also walk out with formal shoes too.  Badabing badaboom. You're done. 

Somehow, us females have been cursed with the following predicament:

Perfect dress? None in your size.

Dress that fits? Unflattering colour.

Flattering colour and correct size? Costs an arm and a leg.

Cardigan: Jay Jays | Dress: Dotti | Bag: Cotton On | Boots: Payless Shoes

Bondi Beach

Beaches and I have a complicated love-hate relationship.

On one hand, I love the feeling of sand between my toes and lazying about in the warm sand in general. I love looking into the horizon and seeing where the sky meets the ocean. I love the sound of the waves rolling into the shore. I love that there is an endless supply of shirtless eye candy for me to "subtly" stare at (don't judge.)

On the other hand...
The combination of of sunburn, frolicking in freezing and dirty water, salt-water attacking your eyes, unwanted exposure of private body parts (from both your own and others), the threat of sharks/jellyfish/drowning/getting swept out to sea, eating sand-encrusted ice creams and the rank change rooms never fails to convince me that swimming is no-no. 

Summer in general is just not really my thing. A whole season of gut-wrenching, eyeball-melting, suffocating heat makes me want to move to the South Pole where I can be dressed in cozy layers and wrap knitted scarves around my neck. I love me some scarves <3 font="" nbsp="">

OUI OUI OUI!

translation: YES YES YES!

That's what a parisian student would've said on their first day of freedom.
Unfortunately, I'm about 16960km away from Paris. But that doesn't stop me from dressing like I belong on the streets of Paris, France.

Majority of what I'm wearing was thrifted, so I hope that inspires you to be have a dig through your local thrift stores and op shops because it is definitely worth it!

Top: Thrifted (Target) Skirt: Thrifted (Two Percent) Belt: Thrifted (Just Jeans) Bag: Thrifted Tights: Target Shoes: Rubi Shoes

Love, Anita

change.

Besides being stuck in a limbo between teenage and adulthood, post HSC or 'schoolies' is considered as somewhat the highlight of one's life. That's understandable seeing as we're literally given four months to do whatever on earth we want with all expenses paid, no questions asked. No. Questions. Asked. *cough cough*

During this period, I've decided to change myself for the better. Of course, this change isn't instantaneous. And it creeps up on us when we least expect it. I'm no philosopher, but changing yourself can be as simple as changing your perspective on things. Unless, some people find it hard to alter an existing perspective. In that case, I'm sorry, I ain't no Oprah.

What I'm trying to achieve with "The Summer Project" is to basically document these next four months and the journeys that I'll embark on. Whether it'd be physical or metaphysical. Ok, going to stop before it sounds like an english essay!

Anyways. the first step to my new lease on life was to learn to express myself more.

Whether that'd be through fashion, blogging or actually talking to people in real life (trust me, it needs to be done).

So hopefully, I will slowly gain the confidence to one day being the best version of myself I can possibly be!

The Summer Project is my new baby.

In a non-weird way of course.

Anita