can you see the cheshire cat?

brian bought the coolest t-shirt on the planet from threadless.com.  it is a t-shirt that shows up only under uv light.  however, for the period he has worn this t -shirt, we haven't been able to see the cat until saturday.  it was a nice sunny day and under the sun, we slowly saw the formation of the cheshire cat... just like in alice in wonderland.  it was such an achievement because the t-shirt actually worked, i had to take a photo of it and blog the occasion. 

can you see the cheshire cat?

fluoro clash

love the clash

daiso: "it's a japanese 2 dollar store, but it's not like your normal crap 2 dollar store. it's full of japanese products"

that's right - there is a line to pay

daiso

shop23/313 victoria st 

abbotsford vic 3067

in the same building as aldi, and it's upstairs

www.daiso.com.au

daiso is a massive japanese company which opened it's first store in australia.  they are a 100 YEN shop, which converts into AUD = $2.80.  so everything in the store is $2.80 AUD and they sell everything, from massage tools, cooking utensils, japanese lollies, batteries and washing bags.  i managed to go on my day off after hearing so much about it from my manager and friend who both claimed that daiso is "the best place ever. and they have the most useful things there. it's a 2 dollar store, but not those crap 2 dollar stores - they sell only japanese products." those exact words came out of my friend and manager who do not know each other. with that kind of review, i thought it must be worth checking out.  

daiso is not very big, but certainty has enough there to keep you entertained for hours.  the japanese just comes up with some weird stuff.  i found the store was very useful for finding things that you really need but may not know where to buy them.  and it's at a very low price for $2.80.  for example, my ray-bans were getting really loose so i really wanted some mini-screw drivers that everyone seems to have in hong kong, but i had no idea where i could get them in melbourne. now i know a place, daiso.   i also found daiso very handy for travelling.  they have all these travel friendly products in one place, even a whole wall section on eye masks and blow up neck cushions.  

here is a photo diary of my experience of daiso: 

all items are $2.80 - apparently that's what the AUD is converted from 100 yen

any one need plastic containers?

everyday massage tools for every part of your body - all for the low price of $2.80

this is a food drawing pen - that's just pure awesome

shape puncher for seaweed to put on your food or sushi

horse fat foot cream....

cook your eggs in a shape they came out of

japanese bathtub toys - expandable sponge animals!!!!!

my goodies - 10 items all for $28

from bottom left and going around in a circle: name tags for luggage, luggage belt, black head remover, magnet hooks, back massager, sanitary cup for the bathroom, earphone cord wrappers, mini screw drivers, jewellery stand, 2-tiered shelf

sunday mornings: coffee darling

fresh orange juice with grapefuit granita

our brunch

sweets on the counter

 

coffee darling

2 darling street

south yarra 

i wanted to go to the zimmermann sale in toorak on my birthday and brian was nice enough to come with me.  we parked on darling street and walked past coffee darling.  little did we know, it is the latest installment of the same cafe owners of Postal Hall, Federal Coffee Palace and Cafe Racer. we sat down in the very clean cafe on the most beautiful spring day.  it was too hot for me to order anything related to coffee so we asked the eccentric owner, Faye, what her slurpee look-a-like machine was.  she said it was pink grapefruit granita and suggested we order a fresh orange juice with grapefruit granita. from this moment on, it was one of the best brunch experiences i ever had.

Faye then suggested we get her chicken stew which was slow boiled and a secret family recipe.  so of course we listen to her as her suggestion for the orange juice with grapefruit granita was just awesome.  then we order full poached eggs with avocado on the side.  the food was so simple, but yet coffee darling had perfected the simple.  how can you go wrong with that?  the soup was so delicate yet tasty in all the right way. the slowly boiled chicken was not too dry.  with the avocado side, there was a sprinkle of pepper and sea salt on top which really enhanced the flavour. 

i highly suggest taking a visit to coffee darling.  there weren't people busting out of the cafe  - which is a nice change.  generally i find all the brunch places around town are so popular that it's a fight to get a seat and it's so stressful it just detracts from the easier experience. their hospitality is also something that makes coffee darling special from the rest.  Faye takes a special interest in all her customers - with us, she ripped up her cafe's newspaper so brian and i can take home a 3-page newspaper article about gen-y.

what am i wearing?

i attended a few weddings in the month of october so i thought i'll post one of my outfits for a wedding i attended the first saturday of october.

it was the nicest spring day in melbourne this year. :)

 

 outfit:
flower piece - diva
dress - asos puff sleeve dress
shoes - wittner

best friends

Olivia Palermo and Bianca Brandolini d'Adda together on the streets 

european girly girl - i love bianca's long jacket and how it really contrasts with olivia's pale pink ruffles

stylish black - loving olivia's french soles and bianca's vivienne westwood pirate boots

stella choices

as you all know, stella mccartney for target was released on oct 29th in selected target stores all across australia.  surprisingly, the stock did not sell out as fast as anticipated.  i went in on the day after it was released and much of the stock still had every size.  however, when i was looking at the collection i did hear a lot of people say, "wow this is really expensive".  maybe target priced themselves out of the market this time.

 

i fell in love with the above colour combination and the tulip skirt.  it is so nicely shaped and in such a beautiful colour.  the popular lace tee however, didn't meet my expectation.  it is not lined and isn't cut in a very flattering shape.  definitely not worth over $100 AUD. the skirt was $129 AUD.  however, i thought i would be patience and wait for the sale as there is so much stock left and people are bound to return their purchases.

the collection was generally very well made - especially the bottoms and jackets. the blue sequinned dress is not getting released.  i wonder if they had a quality issue with the sequins.  i really liked the suits.  the tailored pants are beautiful and very well cut, but the navy seems really popular as they were the only item which didn't have any sizes.   so that the tulip skirt and a navy suit are on the top of my list when the sale comes. the lace tee is still on the back of my mind but i think i'll only buy it if it goes under $20 AUD.  

i have target which stocks the full collection down the road from me so i will be checking every so often on the prices and update everyone.

up

 

another editorial from vogue china.  can someone tell me why vogue china has such amazing editorials?

i am a big lover of all things coloured balloons.  so much so my friends bought me a bunch of balloons for my graduation instead of flowers.  it was just so awesome.  this editorial really reminded me of the pixar movie 'up'.  couture and coloured balloons, you have already won me over.

roped in

zimmerman rope belt in electric blue

i went to a zimmermann sale at the start of october and fell in love with this electric blue rope belt as shown above.   it was $40 AUD and i couldn't justify it. however it added a wonderful pop of colour to a watermelon-coloured zimmermann wrap dress i was trying on.  i can't stop thinking about this belt now. help! i have looked everywhere on ebay as well.

i'm thinking i can make the belt myself so i'll keep everyone posted on how i go.

i want... lanvin for H&M

so everyone in fashion has been blogging about the collaboration between high-end lanvin and mainstream h&m.  there probably doesn't need to be another blog about this highly-anticipated collaboration but now the moment has arrived with the unveiling of the lanvin for h&m lookbooks and look, it doesn't harm to have these pictures posted on the web one more time does it?

Alber Elbaz said an interview that, “This is not about a dress for less, it’s more about bringing Lanvin to a wider audience.”  i love that alber has got the desire to spread the lanvin label to the mainstream audience.  with this collection i can really glimpses of past lanvin collections.  i am a little frustrated though because i have tried to replicate the two looks for more than a year now... 

this is my all time favourite anna del russo outfit

of course, the dresses i have found are not as good as the lanvin for H&M ones so i can only hope that there are still some dresses left when i hit hong kong in december.  judging from the previous designer collaboation with H&M, there is a good chance.  however, lanvin and this collection is on another level.