Life Update and some news!

Well, I'm back and I'm back with a video! Find out what I've been up to below. Sorry if it's a little, incy-wincy bit rambly - practise makes perfect and I certainly need practise! Be kind and thanks for watching. Hopefully I'll return to regular blogging soon!



A bit about Arbonne for if you'd like to know more:

• Arbonne is an award winning, Swiss Ultra Premium skincare and cosmetic brand which is run through a network marketing platform, meaning that it is sold only through independent consultants who are trained in knowledge of the products and can share them with people in person and built their own business around Arbonne.
• Arbonne is 100% vegan and cruelty free - that means no animal by products and no animal testing whatsoever!
• All Arbonne products are botanically based, and free of nasty petrochemicals, parabens, phalates, mineral oils and other harmful chemicals.
• Arbonne's RE9 Advanced anti-aging set is the world's #1 anti-aging product
• Arbonne's Primer is also a world #1 product

If you would like to know anything else, please don't hesitate to ask me in the comments or shoot me an email, I'd love to tell you all about Arbonne's products and the Arbonne opportunity! 

If you'd like to buy any Arbonne products, you can use my Arbonne Independent Consultant ID to join as a client (it's totally free to join up) or you can join as a preferred client for just $27 and receive 20% off all products including your first order, as well as qualifying for a free product if you spend $195 in one transaction in your first month. My ID is: 613297231 and the items will be shipped to you directly. 

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?

The Last Week On Earth

Okay, so it's not really my last week on Earth, but last week was the last week of my uni holidays, and I don't quite know how to feel about that. On the one hand, I am so excited for everything this semester at uni has to offer me, but on the other I just know that by week 2 I will be swamped with assignments and feeling hellish. Anyway, I just thought I'd recap my last week of holidays for you, because some pretty big and emotional things have happened, and that is why last week felt like my very last week on Earth!

How can I put this? Ummm..... My housemate can no longer move in with me, and told me this two days before my lease ran out and then I panicked, and my boyfriend panicked and now if I don't find somewhere on the Gold Coast to live in the next three weeks, I have to move back in with my parents and drive two hours each way to uni, three days a week!

There, said it. Now I can breathe.

You can only imagine the emotions I felt upon hearing this news. I was distraught because I didn't know what to do, and I was panicked. I think I have had three panic attacks since Wednesday, and I have had to basically continuously do breathing exercises to calm myself down. The thought of packing all my stuff is so overwhelming, and the thought of leaving this unit just as it has started feeling like home is just destroying me. When I thought I was going to have to move back to mum and dad's I was lamenting the loss of freedom that would come with living with my family again, and I was dreading telling my boss that I had to leave work, because I really, really love my job!

Thankfully, when I turned up at work yesterday and told my boss my news, at first she was upset, but quickly she resolved that she would find me a place to live come hell or high water, and if I didn't find anywhere by the time my three weeks were up, I'd be moving in with her! Strangely, the fact that I had three whole weeks before I really had to panic didn't sink in until that moment, ad the fact that yes, it is possible I will find somewhere really came to light! Her reaction to my news made me feel good. I would be missed if I left work, and I had actual hope of finding a place to live, so what was I panicking about?

Yesterday afternoon, I watched a good friend of mine compete in a modelling competition (which he WON!) and went out to All You Can Eat Pizza Hut with him and a bunch of his friends from uni who I'd never met before to celebrate. They were lovely, lovely people and I am so glad I finally got a chance to meet them. We had a great time, and so some of us decided it would be a great idea to go out in Surfers Paradise last night to mourn the end of the holidays, even though most of them had uni this morning, bright and early. Even though I didn't have uni, I offered to be deso driver so that I could make sure everyone got home alright and would make it to uni this morning (quack quack, mother duck!). Also, because I live furthest south of everyone, and so would have to drive past all their houses to get home anyway, and I was determined to get home so I could sleep in my own bed! At first i wasn't going to go at all, but Grady insisted that he wanted to do whatever I wanted to do, but I knew he would like to go out, so I gave in. Well, turns out that going out was the best idea that anyone had all night, because I had a ball, and when we met up with other people at the clubs, and I got talking to one girl in particular, I actually found a potential place to live! I'm going to check out her place tomorrow afternoon after uni, and I'm so excited about it! Plus, because it's the smallest room in the house, if I rent it I get the garage to myself as well, and I'm going to deck it out as a combined lounge room/sewing room. Yep, I'm already planning, and I'm planning a bit of redecorating in my bedroom as well when the move takes place. I'm really hoping all goes well when I meet the girl's house mate tomorrow and that I like the room, because it's less than 10 minutes away from uni, and I really don't want to move back in to mum and dad's place!

Wish me luck for tomorrow. Things have just started looking up after a hellish week of uncertainty, and I'd really like to continue along this path. What have you been up to this past week? Have you had holidays where you live?

Op Shop Adventures With Trudie

On Friday, I was lucky enough to get to spend the day with a great blog friend of mine, Trudie from My Vintage Childhood, and her gorgeous daughter, Little V. Trudie has been a great supporter of my blog since it's beginning, and I have been anxious to meet her ever since moving to the Gold Coast, where I knew she lived. Despite the age gap, I felt right at home with Trudie on Friday. We chatted like old friends, visited a few of her favourite op shops and I got a tour of her office and a sneaky peek at all the stock she has ready for her Etsy store, which is coming soon and will be selling some very beautiful vintage children's clothes at affordable prices.

It was so great to finally meet a fellow blogger in person! No one quite "gets" a blogger like another blogger does and it was great to take our friendship out into the "real world" and chat about blog stuff, PR, vintage and all other manner of things which I couldn't really chat to my non-blog friends about. It was also great to have an op shop partner for the day! Not many of my real life friends are into op shopping or vintage, so it was great to have someone to chat with over the clothes racks, and to encourage me to step out of my comfort zone and try a few things on. Trudie is set on converting me to a colour-lover as far as my wardrobe goes, and she certainly did well on Friday with introducing some bright and funky prints to my wardrobe. Trudie is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to vintage, and I really look forward to learning more in future ventures with her.

Unfortunately, I only realised when I left her house late that afternoon that Trudie and I hadn't taken a single photo all day long - not even an outfit picture to post on the blog! Here I was all excited to meet a fellow blogger and I forgot all about doing what a blogger does best! Oh well, you will just have to use your imaginations as to what we looked like on the day! I'll give you a hint though - Trudie looked amazing in a flowy, red maxi which accommodated her growing, pregnant tum.

Now onto the day's haul! I did quite well at the op shops last Friday, if I do say so myself. Since moving to the coast, I haven't really found any op shops that I really liked. If Trudie didn't live right up the opposite end, I'd be half tempted to steal her secret spots ;)

This colourful dress is by The Dress Company. It's got a tapered skirt with pockets and sits beautifully when on. A bargain at $3.25!

This is the top part of a maxi-length night gown which Trudie found hidden in the rack at a Lifeline store. It's so beautiful ad soft with the delicate embroidery around the neck. I'm intending on wearing it as a dress. $8

The embroidery on this green chiffon blouse is gorgeous, as is the ruffled neck. Perfect paired with dark jeans for a dressy casual look. $6

Last but not least, the gorgeous Japanese vintage frock which Trudie gifted to me out of her personal collection. I absolutely adore this dress and have already worn it! It got so many compliments, that I couldn't help but to see the merits of broadening my pastel wardrobe to include a bit of colour.

Since I didn't get any pictures of my outfit while I was with Trudie here is a quick little instagram of me wearing the frock that Trudie gifted to me. Thank you so much, Trudie for such a wonderful day on Friday. I really hope that we can do it again soon!