Things I Love Tuesday v.2

I love all the bright colours in this room! And that light!

This is a bookshop in France. How cool is it?

Mum has an old ladder somewhere and I'm hoping to convince her to give it to me when I move so I can do this!

Who doesn't love a nomming dinosaur?

So many pretty colours!

Harry Potter Meme of the Week:

This was exactly my reaction to this meme. Exactly.

Also Loving:

♥ I saw Matt Corby live last Tuesday and it was amazing! This interview really shows how down to earth he is and how much passion he has for what he does. I love it.
♥ Leona has a new niece and I am so happy for her! She has been talking about this for ages so it must have been so exciting finally getting to meet the beautiful little thing!
♥ Alice shared this post a while ago and it really made me think! It's definitely worth a read/watch.
♥ Megan once again shows us all up in all her mermaid glory in this post!
♥ Oh, and Alice also shared this post - fashion advice from her childhood self. I love it!
♥ Autumn got a pet pig for her birthday! How cool is that?
♥ The Australian Capital Territory passed a law today to allow same sex marriage! Tony Abbott and his evil henchmen are planning on challenging it in the High Court, claiming that it's unconstitutional, but it's still one step closer to equal marriage in Australia and if it survives this challenge, other Aussie states are sure to jump on board!

Links to any pictures used in this post can be found on my Pinterest

Wednesday Wishlist: Ultimate Thriftlist Edition!

I really want to get back to writing more vintage-related posts on the blog, so I thought that for today's wishlist it might be a nice idea to show you all the vintage items I am always looking out for in op shops and secondhand stores. A lot of these item are really popular at the moment and, as with most good quality vintage, rarely grace my local op shop's shelves but they certainly would be a dream-come-true to own! 

Vintage Canisters

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 Vintage Suitcases

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Mid-Century Furniture

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Vintage dresses

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A Queen-Sized Chenille Bedspread

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All of these items have been on my wishlist for a very long time now and are what I look out for most when thrifting. I recently picked up a double-seized chenille bedspread at a garage sale, but it is just plain yellow and I would love something a little more ornate. I also found the cutest vintage rice canister at my local op shop along with the first reasonably priced vintage suitcase that I've seen, but it was in really bad condition and I didn't have the cash on me for the suitcase when I popped in, as I was only there to fill in time before an appointment. Oh well, I will tick these babies off the list someday! 

Things I Love Tuesday v.1

I've decided that "Love From the Interwebs" doesn't really cut it as a feature, because from time to time, I may want to share other things with you all. So, after just one week, this little feature has been renamed and given a new breath of life. And on to the things...

I am LOVING the fact that Tommy Franklin, AKA Salty Rain Man, AKA Byron Bay's very own Dancing Man got into the finals of Australia's Got Talent. For years Tommy has been putting smiles on the faces of everyone who has the pleasure of seeing him dancing around Byron Bay, and I'm so glad that he is able to spread those smiles to everyone in Australia. Check out and the Splendour in the Grass ad that he was the star of here, and I dare you not to smile while you watch!

Kaelah's DIY Geometric Glitter Wall is to die for! Ever since seeing this, I go to bed at night wondering how the heck I'm going to convince Jake to let me do this one day. He has already agreed happily to make me the tea cup lights from this post, so I don't want to push my luck!

Everything about this outfit. Oh, also - the fact that I am finally feeling comfortable and confident with my personal style. Girly florals, pastels, frills and all!

Ella, the Queen of Cake, made a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. I am so excited to give the recipe a go!

Pastel hair. Especially this shade of pink.

Harry Potter Meme of the Week:

This one was picked out especially for Becky.

Also Loving:

♥ This open letter to Miley Cyrus by AriZona Iced Tea is absolutely freaking amaze balls.

♥ I got a cute little email today telling me that I won a 25 pound (I don't have the symbol for it on my Aussie keyboard) voucher to The Oriental Magpie in Erica's Birthday Giveaway!

♥ This is the most beautiful HONY story ever!
♥ Lipstick and nail polish - my two new obsessions thanks to blogging, and especially thanks to Ella.
♥ Oh, and only 11 more days until I get to move home!!!


Disclaimer: All links to pictures used, unless otherwise provided in this post, can be found on my pinterest.

Summer lovin'

Summer lovin' by sunae-reilly featuring a floppy hat

It's not even halfway through spring in Australia right now, and already temperatures are above 30 degrees C. This means I am already trying to cover up my pale, freckly skin when I go outside and I'm in desperate need of fashionable, reasonably sun-safe outfits that can be thrown over swimmers this summer.

On Sunday while waiting for my fish and chips at The Bream Hole in Lennox Head, Jake and I decided to browse the surf shop next door. Neither of us seem to go in there often for some reason, so I was surprised at how much of the stuff in there I fell in love with! Originally I just wanted a simple black skirt which was on the sale rack outside for $30, but when I went in to try it on, I just fell in love with these high-waisted shorts! I've wanted some high-waisted denim for so long, and these are just perfect. The cross-stitch detail is so cute and adds the perfect vintage-style touch. I also found a gorgeous brown felt hat with feathers all around the base, but I can't find it anywhere online! Jake convinced me to lay-by them so I can spread out the investment (because it's obviously an investment buying $70 shorts) over a couple of weeks, so I should be able to get them out next weekend.

With these shorts, I've created two different summer looks which I think would be perfect for lazy summer days in Lennox Head, and which I know will translate perfectly from beach wear, to an outfit I can wear out to lunch, or browsing the local markets. The red saltwater shoes are an especially exciting addition to this wish list, as I've been coveting them for ages and they retail for about $110 in shops around Byron. The Iconic's price is a total bargain, and I'm pretty sure I could get an extra 10% off with Unidays as well.

The trend I am most excited about this summer is obviously hats, as I have always considered it important to shade my face while I'm outside (mostly in an attempt to fade my freckles) and the massive range available at the moment excited me so much! As well as the pretty, feathery hat I saw in the surf shop, I would love a plain black felt one, and a couple of straw ones as well for a little bit of choice when accessorising my summer outfits.

Are there any summer trends exciting you this year? Or even if it's Autumn where you are, what are you most excited about for the coming season? For me it's definitely 3 months off uni and lazy beach days!

Quality Time

I love spending quality time with Jake! Last week was a very emotional and heart-breaking week for me, where I really need to just focus on my family and the personal crises which we were going through at the time (not really uplifting blog material, so I'll leave it at that). He couldn't be with me at my parents' place through the week due to work commitments so come Sunday, I was really craving some quality time with my man!

Killen Falls

Jake and I decided that it was the perfect day for a picnic and a swim, but since it was so hot at the beach, and we didn't have a beach umbrella, we decided to take a trip out to Killen Falls instead for a romantic picnic and a dip in the waterhole. We sat up under the rock ledge at the base of the waterfall enjoying the view and munching on fish and chips and cheese and biscuits with a cool lemon, lime and bitters in hand for the better part of the afternoon. The atmosphere at the waterfall was so nice, and sitting under the rock ledge was nice and cool in the heat of the day. We watched turtles swim around on the surface, and fish jump out of the water, with their scales glinting in the sun. We talked, we laughed and just really got to appreciate the beautiful place we live in. Both of us wondered why we don't go out to Killen Falls more often - it is only 10 minutes away, after all!

Quick instagram photo to document a nice day

In the end, we decided against swimming in the icy cold, fresh water and headed home around 5, lapping up the benefits of the first day of daylight savings. Spending time just chilling out like that was so great! we both had such a fantastic day that when we woke up on Monday morning, we decided to do it all again, but at the beach that time! Hooray for long weekends, secret deserted beaches, pretty waterfalls and my first big swim where I stayed in for longer than 5 minutes of the season!

Jake at The Point a week or so ago. The Secret Beach is behind his head :)

Jake and I will definitely be going back to The Secret Beach and Killen Falls regularly this summer. Do you have any special spots around where you live where you like to chill out with a significant other?

Book Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

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A while back I was doing a mass book order from The Book Depository and asked for suggestions from a few fellow book-lovers on Twitter as to what might my geeky brain might find worth reading. Kirsty and Megan both suggested Cinder, which they described as "Cinderella, except it's set in the future and she is a cyborg". Well, being the massive sic-fi geek that I am, and being an avid lover of all things princess, I just had to check this book out for myself, and it turns out it's bloody brilliant!

One of the most important things to me when I am reading a book is that the setting and characters are easy to picture. When I'm reading I expect he words on the pages to become a moving image in my head, and this book paints the scene and the characters brilliantly on my brain's canvas without over-describing anything. The storyline is great, albeit a little predictable due to the whole based on a fairytale thing, and the characters are so endearing that a few times throughout the book they actually made me weep!

Cinder is a character whom I strongly admire and relate to, and Prince Kai will charm you off your feet! The whole book is written in such a simple, emotive way that it really allows the reader to connect, and I knocked it over in about a day and a half, I was so immersed in the storyline.

Now, this book is actually the first in a series of which only the first two books are out, so if you ant to read it, be sure that you can take the heartbreak that comes with finishing a book on a cliff-hanging note and having to wait months on end to see what happens next. It's a tough life when you are so connected to the characters that they could be your best friend! 

Love From the Interwebs

One of my favourite things in the world is Leona's Wednesday Loves posts, because we both have such similar taste. I know these type posts aren't uncommon, but the fact that I love discovering and sharing new things so much means that I've decided to jump on the copycat bandwagon. BUT I am going o give myself a limit of five things to share each week and try to make them different from each other. Oh, and there will always be at least one thing related to Harry Potter. So, without further ado!

These tea cup lights are so cute! I'm saving this project for when I own my own home, and have enough power over Jake to convince him to make them for me. They'd be great mood lighting! Since Pinterest didn't have a proper link to the DIY with instructions, I guess I can count myself lucky that my boyfriend is a sparky. These lights will be mine someday!

This house tour with Andrea McArdle on A Beautiful Mess is just like a vision of my perfectly decorated home! Who isn't into the mid-century look these days? Besides, I'm about to move and the most excited part of moving is redecorating! If only I had a couch that awesome!

My friend Darci sent me this pin, and the caption was "After the Battle of Hogwarts, the Dementors had to start taking more drastic approaches.."I think it's so clever and funny! I probably wouldn't think it was funny if I was the poor girl lying on the ground with no soul, though!

I can so relate to this meme. Pinterest, thou art an expensive bitch. 

Last of all, how delicious do these sugar cookie bars look? They reming me of 100's and 1000's biscuits which I always used to beg mum to buy me as a kid. I can't remember the amount of times my sister and I snuck them into the shopping trolley. Mum used to get so pissed at us because they're basically just sugar and they're quite expensive. I'll have to give this recipe a go to relive childhood memories. Although it calls for shortening and I have no idea what that is, except there's a song about shortening bread which mum used to sing to us as kids.