Here are the things that I like to look at tonight

p.s. I hate working full time already and I am dreading the rest of my life. Except the parts that I can't wait for.

Niagara Falls Ontario, always a fun place to go!

So today Esther, Stace, Rizz and myself ventured out to Niagara Falls, Ontario. It was freaking sweet! We went on the Maid of the Mist and laid around in parks alllll day! It was really nice and relaxing. Its a pretty tacky place apart from the majestic falls. And everythings pretty expensive... It was a good day anyway! We sang the jingle for Marine Land all day, its too catchy!
Tomorrow morning we are off to Montreal for the weekend. I'm really looking forward to it! Although when I get back, Kania will be in Europe and I will have new housemates who I'm not familiar with and I am a little nervous... But it will get some issues off my mind, number 1 being the fact that the boy I spoke about in my last post has NOT called me! Why hang out with a girl all night and give her your number if you have no intention of ever replying to their messages! Whatever dude, whatever. I'm going to be off with all the french Canadians, making out and speaking french. We're going to a 40 year retrospective of Yves Saint Laurent at the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal, thats fucking better than any cute boy with glasses...

Ok I don't have much else to write about really but I have some killer sunburn after two days of laying in parks, I'm going to have a hot tan soon.

I just awoke from a really vivid dream, and I will recount it here so I can recall it later on! It was one of those sleeps where you can't wake up, my doggeh had been restless all night and I was like "oh"- fall back down & snore. 

OK so I was sleeping on the floor of Retravision, which I understood to be at my local shopping mall but looked more like the King of Prussia mall in PA, America. also the inside of the shop was like a dentist's waiting room, the waiting room of my oral surgeon, actually. I was asleep in a chair and my high school boyfriend, Gavin, was asleep on the floor. I was also experiencing the same crazy heavy sleep as I just explained. It's important to note here that it wasn't Gavin from 5+ years ago, it was Gavin as I know him to look today thanks to Facebook and our mutual friends. I was so tired I went out to my mum's car in the carpark, though it was really hot. My mum drives a Lexus but this was a new silver Commodore, and I couldn't decipher how to lock the car doors while I slept whilst keeping the windows open slightly to allow air to pass through the hot car. There were other people in the carpark too but the windows were tinted. I knew that we were in gang land, so I wanted to be able to let Gavin and Mum in the car without allowing any gang members in. 

Okay while I was asleep (in the dream) I reminisced about earlier eating Subway for lunch and being horrified at the glorious choices of meats available. I asked for a vege delite but the sandwich artist kept putting meatballs and things that were shaped like vegetables but actually made from veal in my foot-long. For some reason though, I was so hungry that I ordered a 6-inch and ate that whilst the sandwich artist made the other 6 inches of heaven. Also Gavin's sandwich (chicken fillet with mayo, lettuce, tomato and onion - true story) was deep fried for some reason. An interesting point to note here is that Gavin couldn't eat his sandwich if he saw the mayo being applied, whereas I had to watch everything being done and hence why Subway was often a popular choice for us. That part is true, dream or no dream!

Okay so I was grappling with the concept of windows and locks and heat in the car whilst I slept, probably similarly to grappling with my dog's restlessness in real life. At one point I sat up really fast and hit the roof off the car, so I was sitting in a metal chassis with windows up and the gangs were laughing! I tried to pull a new roof out of the front of the car and the whole thing folded up into a curved bar like the ones that the roof rests on in a Jeep, but I closed my eyes really tight and I was back in the car again. 

Next I was home, I don't know how I got there. I was in my bed and it was dusk, and instead of the wildlife park opposite my house there was the foreshore where bands, etc. often play. For some reason I'd been involved in the setup of this and Gavin's youngest brother Moe had found my VIP pass somewhere and was using it. I was ok with that!

Gavin SMS'd me to tell me he'd gotten home okay and had chosen Cripps, whereas my Mum had chosen Bloods. My sister walked in where I recounted the whole ordeal to her and she said she was going to McDonalds. I asked her to bring me home a cheeseburger meal with no meat and a vanilla milkshake, and passed her $5 from the huge jar of coins on my bedside table (does not exist).

The end!

week two

I think today marks the first day of getting into the 'holiday spirit.' I slept til 10.30 and am still not dressed, even though I spilled coffee on my dressing gown and had to wash it.

Last week I had a good couple of days, Thomas and I hit up IKEA after breakfast, as planned, and I bought some new bedsheets that match said dressing gown. Their website is undergoing maintenance apparently but my room is all white and coffee/khaki and eggplant and black and walnut wood today. Plus everything in my life is really clean because I emptied it all out last week and now my wardrobe, shelves, storage boxes, desk, etc. are all really well organized.

Today I need to watch The Fountain because it's due back today but I don't feel like depressing myself just yet. My memoirs are going well and they're happening in list form, which I feel is a fitting tribute to my 21 years.

On Friday night I intended to go to the Leedy but we ended up sitting around at Jess' for ages and I went home. I was wearing a cute dress I bought in New York and some new wedges though, to acclimate to heels. Nice try.

On Saturday my first day at the gallery was really successful, I was concerned that I didn't know what I'd be doing but I basically got to talk to heaps of children and elderly people about contemporary art and I knew more than I thought I did. There's this awesome video installation at the moment by Julie Dowling about her Indigenous heritage and her journey back to her country, and it's really striking and incredible. I never thought that would be something I'd get into but my horizons are broadening every day. 

Saturday night Laura and I went and saw Eddy Current Suppression Ring at the Norfolk Basement. Remember when we went and saw Wolf & Cub there (maybe) and the floor was sticky and it was full of old men? WELL, SAMES but the band was awesome and I've decided I'll become a regular at their shows when I move to Melbs next year. We had a full-on date night, she picked me up and we had gourmet burgers at Flipside and got photos taken at Timezone, had icecream and she dropped me home before curfew :~

This is a photo that was taken there and you can see my awesome collar, and home-job haircut courtesy of one Polly Smith. I am staying in her room for a few days this week so I'll be updating from a foreign house, and embarking on week two of holidays. This will include furtherance of memoirs, trip to Officeworks, banking of last paycheck from old job, new MJ bag, maybe cooking. I am making 2 x cookbooks today, one for my sister and one for me of recipes she loves and things I want to try, respectively. I might also continue the journey into op shop domination and get some new passport photox taken.

This entry is boring, your dress in your last post is pretty, and I want to live vicariously through your love life. Call me soon pls!

The world has joined Team Natalie '08.

This weekend I have been enjoying the company of three lovely ladies, Esther, Stace and Rizz. Its so nice to have such nice and familiar friends in the same city as me again! And they are becoming fast friends with my Canadian friends also which I like alot. So we met up at their hostel on Friday night and hit up West Queen West, went to a couple of bars, they seemed pretty impressed by it all. I liked my hair and outfit alot on Friday so I took a picture.

Please note that I'm not very good at taking pictures of myself/my outfits...
Saturday I had to work which was kinda of bad but we met up after work, took a stroll through the annex, there was a street festival going on in my area so that was kind of fun. We bought some gin and limes and drank alot on my patio for a while. We hit up a few Toronto hot spots, did a bit of dancing, met up with a few more friends, it was a pretty fun night! I think everyone enjoyed themselves which was the main thing. I also met a boy who is SUPER cute. He is pretty much the cutest boy I've spoken to in Toronto.
Sunday we were meant to go for a bike ride but it started raining. Instead we looked around Kensington for a while, had a snack at Java House, went to the Joni Mitchell photography exhibition which made me feel bad about the world, ate some sushi, then went to see Young People Fucking which was not as good as the Canadian hype machines have made it out to be... We then went for a walk to find icecream and while walking past a bar on College Street, we spot said super cute boy from the previous night! It was a little awkward, I had been talking about my sms plan for the whole day! But good thing is that even without alcohol, he is still super cute! And luckily I was wearing this really pretty dress...

I'm hoping to see him again some time before we go to Montreal on Friday. I'm so excited about the future! My weekend was just the greatest weekend ever! I have to work for a long time tomorrow and then we might go to a party up the street from my house. Our new housemate is also moving in tomorrow so I want to hang out with her a bit. Excitment is my middle name.

At Last!

Finally I am back on the internet!!! It is a great day...
So to fill you in on what I've been up to lately and what I have been wearing, I decided to take a few pictures of outfits and write stories that correspond with what I did on that day...

This is what I wore to the "Festival 101" symposium that I volunteered for at Worldwide Short Film Festival. It was pretty amazing, the festival director for WSFF is Australian so I was interested in hearing how she got to where she is now. One of my life goals is now to create a festival. Its not really out of reach either, thats what I like about my life goals these days, its all about realism. Cardigan and shorts are secondhand and the shirt is H&M.

This is what I was planning on wearing to see the "Scene not Heard" program for WSFF, a collection of particularly good music videos featuring a 3D version of "Wanderlust" by Bjork. However it rained so I wore jeans instead... Cardigan is secondhand, shirt is $2 from street vendor and skirt is American Apparel.

This is what I plan on wearing tomorrow at work and after work when I meet Esther Stace and Rizz! I also wore this when I went out for dinner with my friend Nelia on Monday in Chinatown. She's now in Paris for 3 weeks :( Shirt is Urban Outfitters and skirt is American Apparel.

What else have I been doing... We have been interviewing a whole pile of people to be our new housemates. We have Emily moving in on Monday, she seems sweet and she goes to OCAD which is like the Ontario art school. Kania has been desperately planning for her Europe trip, I'm hoping the new housemates will fill the void she will leave. And I am hopeful we will find someone good for Kris's room soon. Hopeful that it will be a cute boy... I've been having a few late night parties, last weekend I hung out with my H&M/now reallife friend Lily, the bars were open late for North by Northeast so I got home at 6am... I'm excited to party with Esther, Stace and Rizz again, its been too too long.
So here are some things that I like in magazines lately.




...lots of Sonia Rykiel and Coley Claire. Lovin' it like McDonalds.
Oh and all your sheer clothing purchases made me think I should share my sheer blouse collection with you!!

l-r: Black blouse from Urban Outfitters, Florals from Forever 21, Polka Dots from H&M and Yellow from Forever 21. You can see through about half of my shirts these days, its hot.

What I bought in Armadale, Kelmscott and South Lake this week

l-r: double-v ruffle print dress, grey marle jersey cape sleeve dress, nautical cotton halter, heavy denim pinafore, ruffle neck polka print dress.

l-r: double-u black ruffle blouse, slate frill-neck bell sleeve blouse, white cotton and anglaise blouse, ivory quilted cape sleeve t, white cotton ruffle blouse.

l-r: black ballet skirt, grey printed pleat skirt, leather pencil skirt, red and white pleated circle skirt.

Week Timetable

This is both forecasting and retelling the story of my week

Sunday (do you count Sunday? I don't but it makes me look more interesting)

Awoke at 8am on the floor of Jess' room, drove Camille home in the rain, sat on my new pillows for an hour, got clean and dressed, went to Cottesloe for high tea with Laura, came home, got ready at zombie-speed (real slow), went to dinner at the Pony Club, came home, watched TV.

Monday

Worked from 11-12, went to Zomp, went to the video store and got out 8 movies, went to the oriental food store and bought Edamame, went home, peed after being busting for 2 hours, watched The Darjeeling Limited, added India to my "places to visit" list, went jogging, made a pizza, online-shopped, watched La Vie En Rose with Thomas.

Tuesday (today)

Woke up at 9, ate toast, cleaned my already spotless room, re-arranged my shoeboxes, watched the same episode of Friends that I saw on the weekend, went to the shops, bought a bathrobe, came home, watched Best in Show, realized I might be a yuppy, went jogging, made cup-a-soup, wore face mask in bath whilst reading book, cut to now obsessing about the gothic girl from NCIS' wardrobe.

Wednesday (tomorrow)

Go jogging in the morning, go to Armadale for purposes of ops, watch the depressing movies I rented out, eat more Edamame, do my washing, research Pilates, start memoirs.

Thursday

Continue memoirs, focusing on past love interests. Research French lessons and report earnings to Centrelink.

Friday

Go to Ikea and buy new bedsheets after breakfast with Thomas. Go jogging probably. Maybe make risotto.

Saturday

First shift at the Gallery, might go out late and feel youthful.

This is boring but I'm sure you'll hear from me frequently in the next few weeks. My mission is to make sure I shower and dress every day. 

Here are some things I am obsessing over right now.

I also bought a bag yesterday. I will post pictures of it when it arrives in 7-21 days.

yo

Life update - I'm basically finished my last assignment/exam so tomorrow is a free day, I just googled the biggest list of op shops ever.. I'm not kidding when I say it's over 100 stores long.

I start work at the gallery next week and my old job owes me over 1k, happy holidaze..

I took some great photographs lately and have been getting crafty, one day they'll all make it on here.. new work features trendy employees, expect fashion.

Where are all my friends that have weekdays off when I have a tank of petrol and a list of ops? OH, IN CANADA.

Internetless :(

I am internetless. When Will moved out last Thursday he decided to take the internet along with him... which really wasn't his to take but anyway. I'm dealing, at the moment I'm at the library listening to Jenny Lewis (who I missed seeing when I was on vacation) and trying to ignore the people who keep looking at my screen. I'm wearing an American Apparel dress which I could never wear in winter because it was too short and thin. I'm kinda in love with American Apparel again by the way, when I was in Vancouver I bought two skirts and a sweater which I pretty much wear all the time. I'm going to go today and perhaps buy some more things! Some singlets I think, I don't really have many things without sleeves and I don't want to build on my tshirt tan... I'm also going to purchase a basket for my bike and perhaps a fan because it is stinking hot in Canada!!! Never thought you'd hear that hey! I'm going to end my day with a bottle of wine and a book on the patio, sounds lovely hey!

In life news, I had a crazy Friday night involving a work friend becoming a real life friend, a Degrassi cast member and drinking vodka with some random boys on my patio at 4am. We started interviewing people for Will's room on SAturday but we didn't find anyone that good, we have more people coming in tonight. We also have to start interviewing for someone for Kris's room as well! Kania and I are very excited!! We will have a whole new house by the start of July!!!

In fashion news, I am feeling kind of uninspired to buy new things which I guess is good, I'm actually feeling pretty satisfied with my wardrobe! I don't have any pictures because this library internet kind of sucks but there is this link to a Nylon article about Natasha Khan aka. Bat for Lashes, who I kinda love alot and would totally dress like if I was going for that bohemian indian look... Apart from that, summer has been great for my clothing, I really have a lot of summer clothes I didn't get to wear for a long time and now everythings coming out! Its great!

I think thats all for now. Sorry if thats boring. When I get the internet back there will be actually pictures of actually things, not just words trying to paint pictures...

Winter Love

After purchasing a 2,500$ laptop and deciding to take a month off actual work, my itch to spend must be subsided with ops again this winter break. It's a good thing, really - I have 5 weeks between semester end and secondment start, I need to build up 10 weeks of work wardrobe and preparation for winter chills and summer flings after that. 

This is a good opportunity to spend my days in Armadale, Midland, Cannington, and the like! But after spending time trawling through the Vogue op shop thread I've come to a few realizations.

I am going to set out with a good list of things to buy, rather than be daunted by a warehouse full of clothes. I am also going to highlight my already elaborate winter wardrobe with pieces that I'm missing, and accessories. I don't accessorize enough! Spending the winter in the northern hemisphere has provided me with plenty of coats and dresses, so now I need more jeans, knits and skirts. I am also looking for tan leather accessories (like the plaited belt and clutch I bought from the Claremont sale, for $3!), hair accessories and socks. I am all about the knee socks lately, and I look like a grown up schoolgirl when it's done wrong but over tights and with a knee-length dress, they are AWESOME.

Your winter wardrobe has been a source of inspiration and so with this I present to you, the list...

- A-line skirts (I have enough pencil!)

- Hip-length jacket, maybe with a hood

- Long line cardigan

- Lace-up boots (Luella style)

- Wrist length gloves (completely impractical in Perth but nonetheless)

- something with colour

The incomparable Audrey Horne

I am also experiencing a love affair with vintage lingerie. Every blogger does at some point, and I guess it's my turn now! I've stocked up on basics and have seam-free everything in every colour, now it's fun time. See: Elle Macpherson Intimates and Stella McCartney for Bendon as hygienic inspiration. The Ayten Gasson website is also fueling this fire.. I shall see whether I cross the line into real vintage or not. Don't hold your breath.

Home at last...

So I just got back from my vacation and I am very happy to be home! It was great seeing my parents and Esther, Stace and Rizz and I had such an amazing time. I will update with the purchases soon, I think I should have a shower first... 5 hours sleep and a plane ride don't make me look pretty. But here are some realisations that occured to me while I was gone:

1. I will never in my life live in a country town (such as Kamloops, BC, Canada, aka. worst place on earth).
2. I made the best city choice coming to Toronto, now that I have seen more of Canada I know that it was definitely the best city for me.
3. Parents are great but they're better when you're on the other side of the world.
4. We share some of the best friends in the world.

Also, I'm pretty much satisfied with almost every aspect of my life except for my boy aspect so I am going to get a boyfriend real soon. Or become close friends with a new boy, I need some man in my life.

THE CLOTHES UPDATE WILL COME SOON JESSICA I PROMISE!!