Last year during the boxing day sales we went to Lush, and waited for 3hrs... why do you open at 10am, when everyone else opens at 7am?! That's the bad part of the day - but we did end up buying about $30 worth of stuff from Lush ^^. Mainly bath bombs, which perhaps wasn't the best idea ever - considering that we don't use the tub (plus the cost of water to go up by 30%). But we also bought a scrub, some soap and shower jelly. One of the soaps is called Northern Lights.

Northern Lights are...
- a colorful undulating (wavy form/outline) glow
- seen in the night sky
- possibly radioactive & glows in the dark
- usually in the north polar region (hence northern lights)
- also called the "aurora borealis"
- if near the south pole they are called "aurora austrailis"
- a book by Pullman that was read to us in our reading sessions in middle school


Not sure if that's been photoshopped... but it looks amazing and something magical. Like when that guy cast the Dark Mark in the 4th Harry Potter film, that or this picture looks a lot like a HP book cover, the one where DD dies and there's the lake with skeletons. It also looks like when the Evil Queen of Once Upon a Time cast the curse, but in a different colour.

Lush created a soap using the colours of the Northern Lights, yes it looks radioactive and like it glows in the dark (tested, it doesn't) - but it looks amazing! :) It's part of their xmas limited collection, which increases sales as it's not available all year round. 
The piece I bought sadly didn't have all the colours in the picture above, just the yellow. But it smells the same. I'm not very good at describing non-food related smells, and would love the ability to tell what's in a perfume, but I can tell you it smells fresh, but not in a intense citrus way. According to Lush UK it's pine and lime.


NL smells amazing, but it a bit pricey (as with most of Lush's products) and the colours do come out when you leave it on the sink (and possibly on your skin too) so it's not as good as Lush's other soaps. But it does smell amazing... Will I buy it again? Undecided at the moment. Recommended? Yes, maybe as a hand soap though.

Halloween has come early. One of the things I miss most about home is Halloween, why don't they do Halloween here?!  A friend says it's because it's un-Australian... along with baseball not being a national sport. Anyway, the other week I saw a Queen of Hearts costume on sale, I tried in on, and loved it. Plus I just happen to be wearing my heart pendent necklace at the time. As it was about a fortnight into the sale, I ended up ordering it online from their ebay store (free shipping & paypal, unlike their wensite). It's $30 from BnT. Adult stores are one of the best places to get costumes, though it ain't good for your pocket, because they stock realistic sizes, and have a large range.

Over the next few weeks (doing everything to avoid exams :P) month or so I will be during tutorials on how to make a scepter and headpiece, and style the costume. For the headpiece you could wear a mini top hat, crown or gold tiara for a more princess-cy look. I've decided to go with a mini crown, with glitter of course ;). And to counter buying stuff we thought we might use but don't end up using, we're going to have an overall budget of $20 to spend on the DIY scepter and wand.


Unfortunately, in a way, the outfit did not come from a headpiece and prop, like some of the other costumes from BnT. I would have preferred it come with at least a crown, even if it was a bad one that could be refurbished... The length is good, goes half way to your knees - if you're short like me. If not well then, wear nice matching underwear ;).



This is the scepter I'm going to be making, in a way, using it as a base and then experimenting with colours and designs. So far I've done a sketch of my version, though it was bad and I'm creating another on the tablet. There will be a separate post focusing on the scepter later on. Is it just me or does that red bow get in the way? Progress: sketched (draft) and bought a couple establishments. Currently experimenting with ribbon (bow & candy cane wrap). 



The crown will be part 2 of the project, with part 3 being the overall styling. At the moment the design is pictured, left is easier. It's harder to make than it looks. Glitter foam, lined with felt, as double foam makes it look chunky. The most challenging part will be creating the template, unless I find something similar at the craft shop and trace it, reducing the size. Undecided whether it be red or gold. What do you think would look better?

On Friday afternoon, after class I met Emily at the station to go to Bloom's Warehouse Sale, they sell Australian-owned beauty products, mainly make-up though. We got lost (in the same area, again) thanks to me :P and my lack of direction skills, I thought that the street we were looking for was on both sides of the main street, and so we walked in the opposite direction to where it was. After a while we got to the warehouse though, on the other side of the main road. 



She was super-excited about the sale, as she's really into cosmetics and is studying beauty therapy services, I thought that was a hobby course and she was studying business :P. They had lots of stock (though not as much as Day 1), mainly make-up, creams, lotions, but they also had gift sets, essential oils ($6 each or 2 for $10), brushes, soap, loofahs, sponges, gift cards & boxes and deco. I think one of their stores is closing down, so they're selling things they used for displaying products. We've never been to their sale before, so didn't know what to expect, and so went on the 2nd last day, next time we're going to go on the first day.

Together we bought about $50 worth of stuff, in 1.5hrs. Emily would have bought more (I pretty sure), but it was cash only, and she needed to withdraw - and it was cold and wet outside. The guy who was running the sale was very friendly and let us have an item for free, lip gloss for Emily and a keyring for me. These cosmetic sales are great if you need to buy presents (all except 2 of my friends aren't interested :P, being boys) or just pamper yourself. Next time I'm bring more cash, and getting the essential oils (great for making room sprays).
Emily bought...
Brow Essentials Box $10 (?)
Eye (Shadow) Cream $2
Nail Polish Remover Pads $3
Loose Powder
Lip Gloss - Watermelon $free
Cheek Tint
Liquid Glitter Eyeliner - Silver $5
Star Dust (Glitter Roll On) - Antique  


I bought...
Liquid Glitter Eyeliner - Silver $5
Aromatherapy Lip Balm $2
Nail Polish Remover Pads $3
x2 Soap in Lemon/Rose & Brown Sugar/Fig $2
A compact mirror (in the back) $1
Eyeshadow Trio Set - Envy $1
Exfoliating Pad $1
Lipgloss Keyring $free
Plastic Thing (bottom left) $0.50

The plastic thing has potential, it's got a hook at the top, add a jump ring, attach it to a long silver chain, and you got a necklace. It's see through and has a lattice pattern. As I wear a lot of black it won't show, but then you could always add a background to it. Using a range of different materials: paint, paper, felt.

Like the plastic pendent, the keyring also has a lot of potential, for a craft project. We're going to empty out the lipgloss, remove the brush, and clean out the vial. Picture it clear. It can be filled with anything small, like beads, glitter! and little things. Even coloured salt and aconitum. Probably not recommended for perfume though.

One more picture, I'm very excited about the new collage feature on PicMonkey, as it's new (for them). Before PicMonkey I used Picnik, which sadly closed down.




At the sale I also bought a deco item. This fantastic basket for $5. I was passively looking for a basket for my Little Red Riding Hood costume. It's of good quality, isn't that heavy, though a bit larger than desired. Going to fill it with realistic plastic apples. Perfect for LRRH or SW, or storage.  

We headed back to the city for dinner, Tandoori for Emily, Fried Rice for me. No pictures were taken as it wasn't particularly photogenic in take-away boxes. You can either have plates or the view. We went up to level 11 for the view again. Afterwards we went to BnT, where Emily tried out a few costumes, I ordered the Queen of Hearts, and she accidentally hit me with a suede whip, it hurt... 

Cupcake Central was the desired place for dessert, but as they were sold out of most flavours, being a Friday night, we went to Secret Recipe. SR is a dinner/dessert place, from Malaysia (a slice of cheesecake for $2USD) though I believe it's more for dessert, and cakes, as that's their specialty. I wouldn't go there for dinner. Here in Australia a slice of cake goes for $6, and there was a large selection. Cheesecakes, chocolate cakes of all sorts, Tiramisu, cookies 'n' cream, it was quite difficult to choose. XD. In the end Emily picked the Mocha, and I got the Black Forest Gateau. She says you could taste the coffee and she was going to be up all night. The BFG was very nice, but like with all creamy cakes, too much and you feel sick. Oh and the cherry on top, usually gross, was actually alright.


For the location, we went to the Indoor Gardens, where Myer was (I think) at one end of Melb. Central. A herb garden, in boxes, with a mini fountain, fake grass, and beanbag like seating. At the moment the weather has been wet and windy, mid-Winter, and so it's a great location for an indoor picnic, though you're bound to see couples and their PDAs. Oh and at night the lighting is epic fail for pictures, and hence we didn't get any decent pictures. But I found some pictures here (work in process) and here.

A note on post titles, don't use "&" and apostrophes.
Because then this happens, on the reading list:
& = & ' = 's   e.g. Bloom's

My weeks seem surprisingly long, even though they tend to go for three days Wed-Fri,  the illness, it's getting worse. Last year I could do 7am-9pm (with sleeping on the way back) but now I can barely do 9am-5pm, and function best on half days, starting at noon. As well as my energy levels, my motivation and memory is also going. Wednesday seem like more than a week ago, and yet it was only three days.

This week not much work was done... missed half my classes, as usual. Though I should start noting this, as it does keep me more accountable for turning up. Fell asleep in eco, and missed personal develop, a mix of transport issues and too tired (up all the night before working on the presentation). Marketing only went for an hour O.o, and the events lec was not recorded due to tech issues. My first exam is two weeks away.


On Wednesday, before falling asleep in eco we met Miss M (she insists that's her name, and I can't think of another good one that suits her) for lunch. Prompted by the 2-for-1 offer by Dog Nation, we had hot dogs for lunch. Being a hole in the wall-ish sized eatery, they were quite small and so was the menu, which offered 5 hotdogs, each inspired by a food it was named after, e.g. bratswurst for Berlin, and jalapenos for Mexico.  You could opt for a multigrain roll, or white.

Miss M went for the London 'Bangers & Mash' (British beef & pork sausage, mashed potato, smashed peas, gravy $8.90) while I chose Melbourne, (Aussie beef & tomato relish sausage, tomato sauce, mustard, onion, cheese and beetroot relish $7.90), being the only one free of pork (I don't eat pork). It was very nice, I like it better than Snag Stand's Chicken & Rocket. Though the bread at the stand was better. I'd recommend it as a try once place. 


From Picnik to PicMonkey:
A side note: PicMonkey has collages (2+ imgs into one img)! There are many layouts/frames, including all the ones from picnik, and it's all free. But there are two features missing, stamps and next, they're in the edit img function but not collage. Hope they'll soon be added. :) For now we're using the collage function and then re-uploaded for the edit img function to add text.


Our lunch location was level 11 of my building, which isn't the floor I live on, but has a lounge area, with great views of the city. On our way there we stopped by Lindt to get dessert, being a slow day they had a 3-for-2 offer for macarons (2 offers in 1 day :P). We got Hazelnut, Strawberry & Vanilla. My fav the vanilla, while Miss M favoured strawberry. The only flavour I don't like is champagne sparkling wine. 


As I was short on time (M had her class on while I got the hotdogs) and had my classes an hour away (max, with aligning the train and bus times) I got my half to go. Couldn't resist taking this shot, I love all the colours. I finished Queen of Babble, will do a short review later on. 

There's a new hot dog stand in town, with the recent "healthy-fication" spotlight on junk food, namely hamburgers and hotdogs. Much like Snag Stand, this new establishment, Dog Nation (not so great name in marketing terms...) - sells take-away hot dogs. But the location couldn't be more different, located in the Causeway Lane (next to the Royal Arcade), instead of being in a spot where one can enjoy the sunshine, there isn't much space - it's almost cozy. It's quite small, the "shop", it's more of a stand in a sense, smaller than a bathroom, you can see the kitchen from the counter where one orders, and then steps back to wait for the delivery. We're going to do a review later on, but for now, I'd like to share with y'all Dog Nation's opening week promo: 2-for-1. Just print it or have it on your smart phone. A great offer if you happen be working in the Melbourne CBD.

On Sunday we went to the RSPCA Million Paws Walk at Albert Park, located near Tram Stop 130. I've been to Albert Park many times before, though this was my first time taking the tram there. And so when we got off the tram and arrived at a cafe, I thought we were lost! The cafe is, Mart 130, Tram 130 spelt backwards - located at the old station master's building at tram stop 130. It's one of those places that you'd try because it's unique, like the maid cafe, rather than the raving food reviews. We will be back for brunch sometime. Interestingly for a non-asian ran food place, they only accept cash. Asians prefer cash because it's more convenient for cheating on taxes.


After we arrived we signed in and received the uniform, a blue cap and a light weighted dark grey hoodie. Not particularly fond of the uniform, but it beats slutty short maid outfits ^^. I was stationed at the Merchandise Tent, where they sold stationery sets, clothing, capes/bandannas and other themed merchandise. The best sellers were the capes and bandannas (particularly in size s), which we sold out of in most sizes. I didn't get many pictures till the end of the day, as it was quite busy.


Being a dog walking event there were hundreds of dogs, I don't often see dogs, working and taking classes in the city. I saw one Dalmatian, no really cool poodles, and a lot of Jack Russells and sausage dogs XD (Dachshund). No one really dressed up, Dorothy & Toto would have been a great idea. But there were two dogs wearing superman capes :P. Something interesting was there was a woman who bought her caramel bunny along, it was so cute ^^.


There was a dessert stall that sold cupcakes from the cupcake bakery (note: they're just average, the base, made by the hundreds in a factory using packaged mix quality) and... macaroons! In lemon, something pink and something else I forget. They were donated by the RACV City Restaurant, an exclusive restaurant for RACV (the car insurance company, not RSVP dating site) members. I had the lemon and it was amazing. I wonder if jas is with RACV...




Lunch was provided and consisted of a sausage sizzle or veggie burger and drink, which surprisingly offered bottled water. The veggie sandwich was nice, if it weren't for lack if flavour and seasoning. It was a mostly potato cake with corn, onion and some other processed veggies. Tomato sauce and mustard was provided, but did not go as well with the patty as desired. The vegetarian version of most foods suck. Except maybe at Cafe Vue.


My shift ended officially at 4pm, but by 2.15pm we were all packed up and there was nothing left to do. It was a fun experience, from which I learnt, not to wear a dry clean only coat to XD for next year. I love dogs, but didn't touch any except the one that was high and jumped up and licked my hand before I responded. We used to have a dog, a Jack Russell, Max, but it turned out to be too much of a commitment, especially because no one was ever home, I think he went to the pound. Once in the pound you got 30 days, after that you get sent to the "zoo", but Max was cute so someone would have adopted him. Though there were rumours that he was put up for auction...

On Tuesday we went to the dentist, which I already blogged about. In the court there was a few strands of autumn leaves, and with the green foliage it looked stunning, and I couldn't resist taking a picture.


After the dentist on my way back I stopped at the supermarket, where they were had a sale on chocolate... And I bought Milky Bar's limited edition 'Cookies 'n' Cream', it's amazing (like a lot of things this week :P other than work) and reminds me of Hershey's, but a more dense version. 


Wednesday to Friday was intensely stressful, with a marketing case study (1.5/3k words) due and events presentation on Friday, which I failed (for not turning up, transport issues). I was looking forwards to it and made lots of notes and spent at least 6hrs on it. :( Missed all my classes this week like the last, currently need to watch 12hrs of lectures.

On Friday afternoon I had a blood test, it hurt, but the nurse gave me red jellybeans, so it hurt a bit less :P. Afterwards we met up with Freud (H's new name, of which he does not approve of) for 'coffee' - which is not the same as going back to my place for "coffee" ;). While waiting for him (Freud wasn't late, I was already there), I went exploring and found this Ulta 3 (nail polish) on sale 50c each. Within the next month I'll do a post on Ulta 3, already got the pictures for it. Ulta 3 was made in Australia but moved offshore to PRC aka China, trying to fool us. Most of the collection was made in China, but there a few Australian ones. I bought a few for me and Emily, who really likes to paint her nails.


On Friday night I organized by collection, relocating them to a new home (moon cake box) and cleaned the bottle tops. How toxic is nail polish? Very. It's almost suffocating when you clean them all. I'm not really a nail polish person and have 10 bottles at the most myself, but inherited mother's friend's collection when she passed away last year. She was very pretty (for her age) and was into make-up, nail polish and in general looking great. She did salon style nails at home, painting flowers and thing like that. 

Freud soon arrived and we went for cake and coffee. Gloria Jeans. A cappuccino for him, and iced chocolate for me. I can have iced things? O.o I expected lots of pain, but being extra careful to where I position it, it was ok. He didn't like the coffee as it still had the beans at the bottom of the cup, even with three white sugars. I enjoyed my iced chocolate - with cream.


With coffee we had cake, sponge cakes. Wrong choice. The drinks were full of flavour, and for me, cold, and so the cake in comparison did not make a complementary couple, it was tasteless. There wasn't enough cream in the middle, but other than that I can't really do a review as my tongue was coated in coffee. Will give them another try in the future.


On Friday night, we received a present, a friend went to asia and I sent him a list, initially it was 5 items, but to make life easier we shortened it to three items. Oil control paper, Peanut Butter Cups and Hershey's Cookies 'n' Cream. :) Not sure how much the paper was, but the cups were $11 for a 340g bag, and 6 bars of Hershey's were $10. They're $2.20-60 here. I'm going to do a review comparing Hershey's & Milky Bar's Cookies 'n' Cream in the future.

The rest of the week was less fun, in a way, a way that said there were two major projects due. On Monday it was a horrible rainy day, but I did get to wear my winter coat and use my umbrella ^^. I arrived early to class and went for brunch, at Little Cupcakes. Every single cupcake I've had from there was amazing, and that being said I had high expectations. The interior isn't modern, or old, but a place of it's own time, with a cozy fell. It's more of a take away place, as it seats 6 (inside) at the most.


I ordered the Cookies 'n' Cream (forgot about the china made issue till the end), amazing as expected, a moist soft fluffy cupcake with a swirl of cream cheese speckled with crushed cookies. Though it was not the same story with the mocha.


The mocha, in presentation was quite similar to the Veranda Cafe (a street and tram ride away), but in taste it was less than decent. While I did not taste a powder, it was no comparison to their delicious cupcakes. It was watery, that's the only way to describe it. And for $5, add about a dollar and you can get an amazing chocolaty hot chocolate from Lindt, or if you prefer creamy over chocolaty, visit Koko Black.


Encouraged by the absolutely stunning picture of the cupcake, I ended up taking about 50 pictures (and a total of more than 150 for the week). A tip is to look at an item (I'm best at taking pictures of items, not people or landscape) at different angles, and not just front on. I got about 30 shots front on of the glass above, and then went birds eye view, which produced a blogs-worthy picture.

Last Sunday we met jas for dinner & dessert, who I haven't seen in months due to work and travel. He was late - as always, an hour almost, because he was in the moment (with his video games). We were going to go to an Indian place in North Melb. but he wasn't too fond of the setting. He's into the whole experience of dinning, and that needs to include atmosphere and dim lighting (the camera does not approve). The Indian place looks more of a take away place and looks like a not-as-nice version of our college caf. (which was nice). Next time I'll get t/a and take it up to where I live (great views) and it won't affect the food. :P

So since the Indian place was rejected we went for plan b. Normally Peko Peko, my favourite place for asian food, but they weren't open on Sundays. Plan c was Wonton House, but we couldn't find it XD, so spontaneously we ended up at 'Snag Stand', with the trend of making burgers healthy and gourmet, hot dog were soon to follow suit. And Snag Stand is an example of this.


I ordered the Chicken & Rocket 'Freshly grilled & served in a soft poppy seed roll w/ rocket pesto aiolo, fresh tomatoes and shaved parmeasan' for 9.90 and he ordered hmm... I'm not sure what it was that he ordered, looked up the menu and there's nothing bread. All I can say is he ordered sausages and chips.


It was disappointing. When I think gourmet and a hotdog for $10, it must be amazing and full of flavours, like Grill'd. The rocket was fresh though, and the roll was very nice. The sausage, something you could buy at the supermarket and make yourself at home. This is something you could make at home. Recommended? Yes for the experience, and a try once thing, but it's not something I'd buy again. Oh and don't order the chicken and rocket.

After dinner, 1.5hrs it took me to finish my hotdog like a lady :P, we went to South Yarra for dessert. We got lost, I got confused with the stops 25 & 31 (thanks to jp), walked a lot, "bought" (edit: they were free from the 7 eleven kitkat promo, jas didn't steal them :P) about four kitkats :P and finally got to the place about an hour later. How do ice cream shops survive in winter? It's almost like having a shop that sells only Christmas deco. Seasonal sales rocket but then gradually decline till they go out of business.


We went to Yobar for dessert, as I do like their yoghurt, but it's a bit far from the city. Since our last visit their topping range has decreased about 1/3, disappointing but a fraction of the toppings were cereals. Jas chose the chocolate yoghurt with passionfruit sauce, while I picked a lemon base with kiwi and crushed tim tams. While I do love oreos (our American made oreos) here they're made in China, and so I do try to avoid them if possible.
It was nice, next time no kiwi, unless its sweet though. As it was a Sunday night trams were rare and few, we walked 2.2kms (according to google maps) to the station. Along the way we went past a bridge that looked like something in Paris, with the right lighting, the lighting wasn't right to capture it with my mini though.

On Sunday we meet jas for dinner and frozen yogurt, he was an hour late but it's ok - because he actually turned up (and I had a book with me), we went to Snag Stand and a yogurt bar in South Yarra. Will blog about it, review and pictures on the weekend (two projects due this week). Monday, a rainy day we went for cupcakes and mocha, the cupcake was delicious, the mocha watery and horrible.

Saw the dentist today. Was going to get a filling re-done (the last one fell out) but we ended up doing tests instead, with my gums on the right causing moderate to major pain. He says I either got a. gum disease b. major major issues, involving tooth and root canal extraction (we're going to remove a tooth and the root deep in the gums). For once I'm really hoping it's gum disease (fixed by cleaning). I also discovered ice hurts like hell, as in frozen water. And that I grind my teeth while asleep "closely linked to stress accumulated during the day", noted and increasing since the last dental visit. Need to get a mouth guard to wear while sleeping... which will cost $$$, though we're going to try the drugstore ones first.

I'm so so screwed. On top of the pain and all the dental issues, I also got 1.5 major projects due this week. One of which I'm stuck on, the other, a presentation I'm almost done the slides and prep, just need to work a bit on the notes. The stress is killing me, it's already decreasing my energy levels (always operating on low battery and occasionally sleep mode in class), I don't have time (or often the energy) to eat, and now it's attacking my teeth.

On Monday I ventured to the coffee place in the lane near the library, for what was rumoured (in the library :P) the best coffee within walking distance. Got the usual, mocha with two brown sugars. It's almost as good as the place I always go to, in Elsternwick - but not quite. Not sure if it's the service that affected it though, service was minimal at Pronto, whereas at The Kitchen it's great. The price is the same as at the kitchen, $3.50 for a small cup.


On Wednesday despite being in a lot of pain and taking a sick day, there was an upside: we got parcels from NZ & AH. From Glassons we bought a merino top, it's warm but not enough to be worn just by itself. It's more of an undershirt. The quality is alright, piling after just one week though...


We also received top tops from Alannah Hill. This was my first AH purchase (ordered before the coat), I do love AH, but as it is pricey, I only buy investment pieces or things on sale. Due to a pricing error where $69 was missing the nine and therefore was $6, I got two tops (they come in two colours) for $20 delivered. Note: online service is na, but great in stores.

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