Recent snaps.

After attaching more recent photos from my Instagram account I realise I am wearing a lot of coloured jeans lately... I love winter clothes!

Top to bottom:
Recent outfit
Found some more nail polishes in an unpacked box
The Stokehouse, Southbank
Lily pads in bloom
Recent outfit
Arm parties
New pj pants (these also came in a ONESIE!!! but sadly sold out, damn)
Lady Lamington
DIY leather cuff
Recent outfit
Beautiful artwork by Australian, Kelly Smith
Motivation?
DIY decorations
Shadows

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LUXE TO LESS: workwear.

Today I bring you the LUXE TO LESS: workwear edition.

In preparation for some upcoming projects (and also as a general hobby) I've been looking at all the latest collections and I particularly love Lisa Ho's Winter 2012 collection. This collection focuses on botanical inspired prints and colours, which Lisa says, are perfectly paired back with crisp black and white.

One look in particular from this collection I absolutely adored and will be featured as today's Luxe to Less. It's a really simple look and the beauty of this outfit is that it's quite easy to replicate for those of us that can't afford head-to-toe Lisa Ho.

 Blazer - $489, pants - approx $389, blouse - $329, shoes - $499. All Lisa Ho.

Yup... you've got it right... this outfit head to toe is approx $1706. One day when I'm killing it I will be able to buy head-to-toe Ho (rhyming skillz) but in the interim I've come up with some wallet-friendly substitutes.

Blazer - Dorothy Perkins approx $47

Blouse - Country Road $99

Pants - H&M approx $15

Shoes - Steve by Steve Madden $159

In total - this substitute outfit comes in at approximately $320 - which my friends, is cheaper than just ONE item of the above outfit. Snaps to me. I absolutely love Lisa Ho and do actually own items of hers, but while I'm not working, the latter option  will be my go-to.

By the way - I actually bought the H&M skirt in the same floral material as the pants and it is so nice and comfortable... and gets a lot of compliments. 

Images - lisaho.com, dorothyperkins, countryroad.com.au, hm.com, amazon.com

Party planning.

Woo - excitement plus!!!

It is no secret I love everything crafty - and on the top of my list - party decorations. A friend of a friend caught wind of this and has since asked me to be the decorator for an upcoming party she is hosting!

Super exciting. The details I have been given is that it's a late afternoon/dusk garden party which the hostess would like to have a whimsical look. Otherwise, the rest is up to me. Giddy-up.

I have been trawling the internet like a madwoman - trying to remember decorations from parties (like the Vogue or designer parties) we're not lucky enough to attend.

I've got about a month up my sleeve, so have been collecting photos for inspiration (some of my favourites I have attached below for you). I will of course buy some decorations, but this particular lady has seen some of the decorations I have made for other parties and has asked me to make a lot of them as well. The pressure is on!

I will of course keep you updated along the way and will have a post dedicated to the actual party.

Does anyone have suggestions for other pretty ideas?

 

Images via - marthastewart.com, papierdamour.com.au, tabithaemma.com, partysuppliesnow.com.au, homemadebylauren.blogspot.com, gapphotos.com, etsy.com, mysmartshop.wordpress.com, party-ideas-by-a-pro.com, azlifeandstyle.com, australiaentertains.com.au, lamaisoncharmante.com , furniturehomedesign.com

Baked egg and ham cups for breakfast.

Forewarning: Unfortunately these photos do not give justice to the deliciousness that is baked egg and ham cups. They taste a lot better then they look.

I came across this recipe from Chrissy Teigen's twitter account (@chrissyteigen) and I wasn't disappointed. Although Chrissy - you might be in my photography... they don't look as pretty as yours.

These are super easy and taste reallyyyyy good. I made some of these for a friend and I when she came for brunch and they went down a treat. They're a really yummy breakfast/brunch option and the beauty of this recipe is you can add whatever ingredients you want.


Baked egg and ham cups.
I am actually not even going to list out the ingredients because you can literally make this with whatever tickles your fancy.
I used whatever I could find in the fridge/pantry.
BUT the one thing you definitely need is ham/prosciutto. (I made a cup with both and preferred the ham - I found the latter a bit too salty).

I chose mushrooms, onion, leek, cheese, roasted capsicums and some beautiful onion/garlic/olive paste from the deli.

Grease the inside of your ramekins and cover in ham/prosciutto. Make sure there are no holes at all - otherwise the egg will seep through and it won't look pretty at the end (... maybe I should take heed of my own instructions?!)

Add your ingredients.

Crack your egg on top. Try not to let the yolk split like I did... (this is only for an aesthetic point of view).

Put ramekins into a low oven (mine was set at 150 fan forced) for about 10-15 minutes.

Allow to cool.

Serve up with fresh avocado and sourdough - yum!

See - simple and delicious! I've also attached some photos of other food I've been cooking lately but didn't think they were recipe worthy (particularly not my macaroons, which although they tasted good they looked like pancakes... no bueno).

Also - shout out to my brother in law and my dad who baked the breads and hot cross buns for our Easter lunch. Maybe they should be the ones blogging about cooking?

New York Purchases.

I thought I would put together this post for those asking about my purchases in New York. Unfortunately I couldn't find nearly a quarter of the pictures I needed, but at least this is something for the time being!

For those that haven't been, the shopping in New York really is that good - and insanely cheap when compared to home. I don't know if I was just fortunate to come at the right time (the end of winter) but the sales were out of control and I bought some really good brands for a fraction of the price (i.e. Chloe, M by Missoni, Michael Kors, Kenneth Cole etc). Literally. Way cheaper than a no-name brand in Australia.

My biggest tip is to brave the mess (and crazy shoppers) and head into some of the discount stores. The biggest that I knew of is Century 21 (there is one right near the 9/11 memorial), but I much preferred the one in Brooklyn as it wasn't as crazy and much neater. When you first walk in it looks like a hovel - but ladies (and gents) if you have time, go through it. They have amazing brands like Chloe, Theyskens Theory, Missoni, Alexander Wang, Alice and Olivia, Anna Sui etc for an absolute steal. This store has everything - clothing, shoes (some amazing shoes but my size was the first to go, boo), bags, jewellery, cosmetics, homewares etc. The only downside - waiting 35 minutes to use the bathroom. Sort that shiz out.

As mentioned in an earlier post I was lucky enough to be in New York for the Marni and H&M collaboration. I actually didn't bother lining up with the others as I was on holidays and had better things to do... BUT I did go in about five days later and amazingly, two only two items I wanted were staring straight at me. They were the ONLY items left in this particular store. Thanks universe. Also - kinda funny that these items (the brown/grey top and collar) are the exact same items that my best friend bought in the London H&M!

I will take some photos of my other purchases and put together a post with my favourite stores in the coming days.

Gorman be mine.

Gorman is killing me softly. I am sitting here at my laptop with full intentions to get some work done... but it's a rainy day (rain to me = movies, reading, reading blogs), I'm a little bit hungover and so I decided instead to look at the new Gorman winter collection.

Hmm. Bad move. I am seriously lusting over everything. These are my selection of favourites from the lookbook (I think there was about four I left out...)

As I mentioned in an earlier post I am pretty much over wearing dresses and radiate more towards pants or shorts. These numbers below I will definitely be wearing come winter.

Also - I am a huuuuge fan of socks and heels and I'm particularly loving the combination here!

Photos - www.gormanshop.com.au