Bright and Cheery

Why hello there!! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, I certainly did! Lots of food, fun and family, just the way I like it. 

My office closes over Christmas so I'm not going back to work until the second week of January. I'm pretty chuffed about it and am heading over to Rottnest Island tomorrow to continue celebrating this fabulous time of year. 

For my last day of work for 2015 I wore this seriously bright and cheery outfit which matched my mood perfectly on the day. How can you not be cheery then you've got two weeks of holidays ahead of you?!

Skirt: Save the Children Subiaco $6

Top: Claremont Vinnies $7

Shoes: Fremantle Salvos $7

Necklaces: Gifted, Op Shopped and Amorosa Accessories (the biggest one)

P.S It was SERIOUSLY breezy when I took these pictures (just in case you couldn't tell from my extremely wind swept appearance!) 

The Merriest of Days

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Wishing you a super fabulous day where ever you are and whatever you’re doing.

Dress: Vinnies Claremont $8

Shoes: Zara

Brooch: Red Dot

Hat: Santa

Lots of love

(and Olive)

P.S Olive was surprisingly camera shy, I swear she's normally very animated!! 

Christmas Baby

 

In my family the lead up to Christmas is not only filled with super exciting festive events and activities, but also a few special birthday celebrations as well. It all makes December such a fun month and generally means an extra excuse to drink more champagne (like I need another one!). Yesterday was my mum’s birthday and though we were all flying home from Bali in the evening, we made sure to celebrate appropriately in the morning.

Even though this is technically one of my 12 Outfits of Christmas, I always make an extra effort to dress not-Christmassy for mum’s celebrations. It was actually kind of a relief to have a break from all the red and white to be honest! This is a new summer dress which I got for a steal from the Salvos, I DEFINITELY don’t need any new dresses, but this one was just so cute and I knew it would match my new summer sandals perfectly. (I also DEFINITELY don’t need any new sandals…oops). Actually this whole outfit is new and I rather love it!

New dress, new shoes, no red, white or green to be seen. This outfit ticks all the boxes for celebrating my beautiful mums special day!

Dress: Salvos South Fremantle $8

Shoes: Elizabeth and James, eBay

Hat: Salvos Bibra Lake $4

Bag: Save the Children O’Connor $5

P.S Only two sleeps til Christmas! EEKKKK! I’m actually so excited!!

(Gift) Wrap It Up

Something slightly different today, although I’m sure you can all relate to this scene…tucked up on the couch, wrapping gifts, drinking tea, surrounded by Christmas chaos. It’s pretty familiar right? Let me pre-empt this post by saying I may not have looked exactly like this while I was actually wrapping gifts, but I didn't think my ratty PJ pants were really blog-suitable. The novelty T-shirt on the other hand has definitely been getting a work out, with only one month of the year to wear it, I need to make the most!  

I LOVE beautifully wrapped gifts, but I definitely DO NOT have the Pinterest-worthy skills required, possibly because I generally do my wrapping while consuming a bottle of wine... I should get an A for effort though, because I certainly try my best! Last year I was super organised with my Christmas gifts and actually ordered a huge roll of striped gift wrap from eBay, along with a bunch of different red and white ribbons. It was a really cheap way to do it, although you do need to order the stuff about 6 weeks in advance. I still have heaps of left over paper, so I didn’t even need to buy anything extra this year (pat on the back for Past-Hannah!).

I decided that everything would be easier to wrap if was box shaped, so I went to my local bottelo and grabbed a bunch of different sized empty wine and beer cartons to put all my gifts in and then cover with festive wrapping. This might not be the best idea for gifts going to people you don’t know too well, but I know my family and friends will find my little wrapping hack ingenious! Plus my gifts look so much prettier when they aren’t misshapen lumps.

T-shirt: Vinnies Claremont $4

Kilt: Salvos Bibra Lake $6

P.S This is your first little peak into my new home! We’ve been in for four weeks now and I’m finally starting to feel settled. I’ve had so much fun decorating and will definitely share a ‘home tour’ in the New Year.

Boat Party Yeah

I love December for a ZILLION reasons, but sharing food and wine and gifts with friends and family is definitely the dominating factor. Last weekend I was lucky enough to get almost all of my favourite friends together in one place and do just that. We spent the day on a very luxurious boat on the river, swimming and laughing and generally revelling being in each other’s company. It was pure bliss.

One of the over whelming feelings I’ve been experiencing this year is guilt. I’ve packed my life full to the brim and find that I’m constantly busy which means I’m constantly having to say to ‘no’ and ‘sorry’ to people. I know my friends are the same, and with our varied careers, hobbies, families and partners, carving out time to spend with each other is a serious challenge. It just goes to show how much we must like each other that after 15 years or so we still make the effort week after week, month after month to see each other, support each other and just generally be around each other. I know how lucky I am to have these people in my life and December is an excellent time to remember that and reiterate it.

This is what I wore on the boat (if you didn’t already guess!). I was torn between a very nautical themed outfit, or a more Slim Aarons resort-chic look, I took the second option and felt suitably colourful and cheery for what was a very bright and bubbly day (literally, I may or may not have over indulged in the bubbles…).

Kaftan: St Lukes Op Shop Mosman Park $6

Shoes: Salvos Bibra Lake $6

Hat: Op shop

Sunglasses: Karen Walker, eBay

Bangles: Assorted home made and Dinosaur Designs 

Family Vacay

Don’t hate me but… I’m off to Bali today for a long-awaited family vacay! That naughty volcano seems to be behaving itself, so with a bit of luck I’ll be tucking in to my first nasi goreng and Bintang by this afternoon. I haven’t been on a proper family holiday for a few years so I’m really looking forward to having some pool time with my brother and folks, plus drinking cocktails, getting massaged, eating too much… you know, all the good stuff!

As usual the packing and preparing for the holiday has been almost as much fun as the actual holiday will be. I’m super excited to wear all of my tropical looks, the first of which is this one, which I’ll be wearing on the plane this afternoon. Comfort is priority number one, followed closely by looking cute. Luckily the flight from Perth to Bali isn’t particularly long, so you don’t need to worry too much about wearing something super travel friendly. Any longer than three hours on a plane (and any flight involving a meal) and I’d definitely be avoiding white! As it is, this summery look will be fine for my quick jaunt over to Indo and will mean I can walk straight off the plane and into a beach bar, ready to order my first G&T. Oh mannnn am I ready for a summer holiday!

Follow me on insta if you want to keep up with my holiday (@inthedressupbox)!

Top: Kookai, Anglicare Fremantle $7
Skirt: Mister Zimi
Earrings: Good Sammies Myaree $1
Shoes: Birkenstock, eBay
Sunglasses: Preen, gift 

A Festive Fiesta

Yesterday was the first of my work Christmas parties and boy was it a doozy! First of all it started at midday, which meant we only had to work for half a day (always a good thing) and second of all it was Spanish themed! A Festive Fiesta! God knows I love a theme, particularly a double one (Christmas AND Spanish?! AMAZING!). As soon as I received the save-the-date email about a month ago I knew exactly what I’d be wearing. This outfit is made up of bits and pieces I already had floating around my wardrobe. I actually love it, and was so pleased to have an excuse to wear it all.

This vintage skirt is one of those things that I hardly wear, but I can just never bring myself to part with it. It somehow survives every wardrobe cull, even though I wear it maybe once a year and it takes up heaps of space and it’s totally impractical (the three things that go through my head every time I’m doing a cull). But I just love it. I found it in the costume section of an op shop a few years ago, the costume rack is always a great place to look because that’s often where the ‘crazy’ vintage pieces ends up. Teamed with my vintage peasant top and all the flower clips I own, I think I look suitably dressed for a Festive Fiesta!

Now if someone could please bring me some hot chips and a diet coke, that would be just fab #toomuchfreechampagne

Skirt: Salvos Freo $14

Top: Hand-me-down (thanks Gerri!)

Sandals: Miu Miu, eBay

Earrings: Kmart

Bangle: Op shop