Hey, Big Spender!

I had every intention of making this post a vlog, but unfortunately, my iMovie isn't co-operating today, and so I have had to make-do with photos and a written post, rather than subjecting you all to my nasty Aussie accent!

Last night I had a friend from uni stay over for an old-school sleepover, complete with girly movies, mass amounts of junk food, and a shopping trip to Pacific Fair, one of the larger shopping centres on the Gold Coast, today. We had what I could only describe as an extremely emotional night last night, watching The Vow, The Lucky One, Stick It and G.I. Joe. I think we almost flooded my lounge room with our tears while watching The Vow, which is just such an incredible movie, so we really needed some happy-go-lucky Channing Tatum in G.I. Joe to cheer us up after that!

Today, we set off for Pacific Fair with a very strict list of what we actually needed to buy stuck in our heads, determined that we wouldn't let all the pretties distract from what we were there for. I knew I needed a pair of jeans, some jumpers and some nice, uni-friendly tops and Mikeala knew she needed a nice jacket to wear out and about. Well, Mikeala walked out with nothing, and I walked out with only a pair of jeans from our list, but plenty more pretties as evidence of a day well spent!

The first shop we went into was Temt, and what can I say other than that I was Temt-ed by almost every single thing I saw in there to break my promise with myself! SO MANY PRETTY DRESSES! Thankfully, Mikeala reigned me in, and I walked out with only one thing, the maroon, paisley knitted dress which is at the back of my haul picture. For only $10, I just couldn't say no to it, because even though it is figure-hugging, I know I'll get a lot of wear out of it because it is quite nice to wear to uni, and it's really warm.

The next shop to make me cave was Jay Jays, to my surprise! I don't often shop in Jay Jays, but I really wanted a pair of black, high-waisted jeans and I knew they had them because my sister bought some. I'm planning on wearing them to see A Day To Remember tomorrow night, and so I bought the striped crop-top in Jay Jays as well, to wear with them, but I ended up finding the maroon and black top by my favourite surf brand, Mooloola for only $19 in City Beach straight after I left Jay Jays, so now it will be worn tomorrow, and the stripey top will just have to wait it's turn!

I love the cut-out details in this top, and I also love that it's a little bit longer than a few of the other crop tops I tried on today. I'm not usually much of a crop top person, because ew, belly! but with high-waisted things, I think this top will look really nice! One of the most exciting things that happened to me today is that this top is only a size 8, and the maroon dress is only a small! Normally I wear a 10 or a medium in clothes so this got me all in a tizz. I haven't been trying to lose weight or anything, but I have noticed it has been hapening and I quite like the way my body looks right now. I really started to notice my jeans hanging off my butt a few weeks ago, but it seems that I'm between sizes at the moment, becuase I still had to get a 10 in the black high-waisted ones, so now I'm just praying they don't stretch too much, as I know Jay Jays jeans tend to do!

OH! And today I found out that Australia has Lush!!! I've never seen a Lush store over here before and then, ta-da! There one was, right in the middle of Pacific Fair! This is really exciting to me, because I am allergic to sulfates and have really sensitive skin, so I'm always looking for quality, yet affordable natural products to use on my hair and skin. After describing my skin type to the assistant there, she recommended Angels on Bare Skin for me, as I had guessed she would. I was a little bit sceptical of it at first, after Erica's review, but I have heard great things about it from other bloggers, and when she demonstrated it on my hand, I had no bad effects from it. If I like Angles on Bare Skin, I will definitely be going back for a toner and moisturiser as well, because they felt great on my skin and I love the calming, rose and lavender smells! The assistant kindly also gave me a sample of their Rehab Shampoo, as I had asked about sulfate-free shampoos and told her that I had extremely dry hair and this is what she recommended. Unfortunately, Lush uses sulfates in all of their hair products which was a massive bummer to me. Their excuse was that they haven't found a replacement for it that they don't need to test on animals, but I call bullshit because I've been using natural shampoos for years, and none of them are tested on animals, nor do they have sulfur in them.Apparently the sulfates in Lush's shampoos is natural and derived from coconut, so I'm going to give it a little tester and see if I react to it. I've never had a reaction from eating coconut before, so I'm hoping that their products are safe to use on my hair!

The two nail polishes I bought are from Sportsgirl and I LOVE them! I've already painted my stubby, little fingernails in them, in the hopes that if they look pretty I won't bite them, and boy do they look pretty! The gold is really opaque, which is exactly what I wanted. It looks like frosted gold on my fingers and I only used two coats! I could have gotten away with one, as well if I hadn't missed a bit of my finger. The pink is a little less impressive, as it's much lighter than I anticipated and really needs three coats to even make your nails look painted, but on long fingernails, it would look fantastic!

All in all, I had a great day shopping despite not getting what I was after. Have you been shopping recently? I don't go often so when I do, I usually go all out. This was a very constrained shopping trip, compared to my usual! How do you go at controlling your spending? I would also really love to hear about your experiences with Lush products, since I'm so new to them!

Fridays Finds: The Dress That Stole My Heart

There it was, peeking a pale pink, cotton lace sleeve out from between two other gowns on the rack. 

"I like this one" I remarked, as I pulled it and it's bejewelled satin petticoat out from the rack and held it to my body. 

"Try it on!" the shop attended urged. I cringed internally for a moment - I knew this dress wouldn't be cheap, and I was already starting to become attached. "Go on, I've never seen it on before. Give us a little fashion show!" 

I gave in, and snatching other dresses from the hanger as I went, made my way to the change room. Slipping the petticoat over my head, the tiny waist of the dress caught on my breasts for a moment. Easing the heavy satin into place, I began to do the little eyelets up. Somewhere around the middle of my rib cage, the eyelets would close no more. The top and bottom few had snapped into place, but there was one stubborn one in the middle that simply would not do up! I started to panic a little. What if the dress wouldn't fit either? Well at least I wouldn't be tempted to buy it, but what if I got stuck in it? It had happened to me before, after all - but never with a dress as exquisite as this one. Taking a deep breath, I sucked in my breath and pulled the crisp cotton over my head. A cascade of fabric fell below my waist, and I gave a little twirl - it fit! Emerging from the change room, I felt like a princess. The shop attendant gasped.

"Oh, isn't it beautiful!" She exclaimed. I simply couldn't get the smile off my face. "Now darling, I hope you know it is quite expensive - I don't want you getting too attached!" It was too late. This fabulous dress, made in the traditional early 1950's style and entirely out of pale pink cotton lace, had already stole my heart!

None of the other dresses I tried on that day fit as perfectly as that first one (petticoat aside), nor were they quite as beautiful. I couldn't get my mind off the perfect shade of pink, the way it fitted my chest and waist like it was sewn especially for my body, the beautiful, full and classic skirt which fell to just below my knees. I loved it. I loved every little bit of that dress, right down to the shiny satin petticoat which I was sure I could make fit me if I just let the side seams out a little. It didn't matter anyway, really, that the petticoat didn't do up - the little patch of flesh peeking through the side was lost in all the splendour of the lace overlay.  All day I have been thinking of that dress. Dreaming up excuses to buy it and occasions to wear it on. I know there is no way I can afford it's $250 price tag, and that makes me sad. Oh, but to dream, is it ever really enough?

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Well, this week I was too broke to even op shop thanks to some clever timing on various different companies' behalves. I swear that all my service providers all got together and said "Lets all send Sunae her bills on this date! That will be fun!" No, companies, not fun! Not fun at all thank you very much!

Anyway, as you can imagine going a fortnight without shopping is not easy! So I decided that today I would go downtown and have a little look in the Coolangatta Antique Centre and the vintage clothing shop a few doors down to pass the time and satisfy the urge. Since both these shops have quite pricey things in them, I knew I wouldn't be tempted with the "oh, just one dollar here, two dollars there" approach that seems to dwindle away my money in the op shops. I was (sort of) right - nothing in that price bracket but there were some really cheap tea cups that might just make their way into my cupboard come payday, as well as some more expensive items which have made it onto my mile-long wish list. 

I went to the vintage clothing store first. I didn't take any pictures in there because I was too busy chatting to the shop attendant and trying on gorgeous dresses, but let me tell you now - before I walked out of that shop I fell in love. That is where the little anecdote above come from - true to life, I tell you! That dress really is the most beautiful dress I have ever tried on!  I'm contemplating selling a kidney so I can afford it. Anyway, moving on!

These pictures are from the Coolangatta Antiques and Collectables Centre. These are just a few of the many, many things which caught my eye and made me realise how much of a hoarder I would become if I actually had the money to buy all this stuff!

The clothes in here, if you're ever in the area are actually really reasonably priced! 

This tea cup totally belongs in my cupboard! Pity it's $95. 

This display had me yearning for a big, old Victorian-style mansion. Or even a cute little cottage to put this chair in the corner of the bedroom or tucked into a little reading nook!

This is a terrible picture of a beautiful fruit bowl which caught my eye because it is pink. 

Just a few little tea cups for me to lust over. I'm starting to realise that I'm a little bit obsessed!

Last but not least, the vintage phones! There were about 5 other shelves of these, but I took a picture of this one because it's the one that had all the pink ones on it. I really, really, really want the pink and black one in the top right corner! The black on in front of it, I could also take!

Anyway, I had a lovely time browsing the shops this afternoon! I'm thinking of going back there tomorrow with mum, since she is coming up for a visit. Maybe on payday I will sneak a few of the cheaper tea cups into my budget. Or maybe I can do myself a deal where for every assessment I have coming up which I get a distinction or higher in, I can buy myself a present? In that case, with my first two assessments coming back as HD's (did I tell you guys about that??? So exciting!) I guess I already owe myself two tea cups! Or one pretty vintage dress?

Have you ever tried on a dress which felt like it was made for you? I want to hear all about it :)