Wine & Cheese Night!

On the weekend I decided to dedicate a night to indulging in two of the things I love most in this world - cheese and wine! Combining the two is ALWAYS a good idea. I felt like hanging out with the girls and having a few drinks without having to organise taxis and outfits ( gah, the worst part of going out!) and I have to say that being in stumbling distance to my bed was a pretty awesome perk ha ha!

Moving on, what is a cheese and wine night without CHEESE?!

Oh sweet lord, so so much cheese. But not too much, because too much cheese doesn't exist in my world. 

I bought a small bunch of these white flowers from the supermarket to spruce up the table but it just wan't enough so I went through a wander out in the garden and picked a whole bunch of jasmine, leaves, and pretty much anything else that had botanical qualities! As you can see I ended up with three vases/ jugs and added some candles to set the scene. 

Brassiere Breads' olive and rosemary loaf, the cheese pictured above ( with little flags marking which was which), quince jelly, fresh figs and sesame sticks for starters! The arrival of my girlfriends saw many other delicious goods added to the table, albeit for a short time before I devoured them!

I of course had wine too, however the stupid picture kept uploading sideways wahhhhh!

My bestie bought along some macarons and mini gelato cones! You can see why she is my BFFE right?

Such an awesome night and the best part was that there was no cooking involved so all the more time to chat , eat and drink the night away!

Do you love wine and cheese? What do you and your friends do when you get together?

The Best Day Of My Life

Yesterday started like any other day. I woke up, battled through traffic to get to work and spent way too long pondering what to have for lunch ( sushi). Little did I know that something was about to happen, something that would change my life forever......

J.CREW NOW SHIPS TO AUSTRALIA! 

Excuse my while I rejoice and plan my assault on my savings as I contemplate whether green or fuchsia capri pants are needed in my life.

Happy shopping!

Delicious Treats

I've been indulging in quite a few yummy things lately!

On the weekend I went out for high tea to celebrate my girlfriends' birthday!

What is it about crustless and cut up sandwiches that makes them so much more delicious? I always wish there were more sandwiches at high tea!

I usually go for the Russian Caravan tea ( I do love a strong brew!) however opted for the traditional Chai and my oh my it was delicious!

A glass of sparkling wine never goes astray! Such a lovely afternoon hanging out with friends and eating to my hearts content!

In fact, I loved it so much that I was equally excited to meet up with Rioters Bloc the very next day for some more scone action! Ohhhhhh they were so delicious! 

We went to The Tea Cosy  at The Rocks and it was great! Big fresh warm scones and lovely thick cream, just as it should be. You could even choose your own jam and I had vanilla and pear which was divine - as was the Madagascan vanilla tea that I paired with my scones. I recommend that you pop in here if you are in the area for perfect scones at a reasonable price.

Sadly I am having to pull back on my scone intake - it was a joy while it lasted!

Who else loves scones? I assume the answer is EVERYBODY!

Sally Hansen Gem Crush in Lady Luck

I saw an advertisements for these new nail polishes recently in a magazine and I was instantly attracted to this colour, so when I needed a bit of a cheap and cheerful pick me up I headed to Priceline for a fix! 

I believe these usually retail for around $10.00 but it was on sale for $6.00 which is pretty reasonable. 

I don't wear much glitter polish as it doesn't tend to 'go' with the outfits I tend to wear and it is super hard to get off but I really liked the look of this colour. 

Unfortunately this isn't a 'two coat and you're good to go' kind of polish which I soon found out after one coat. 

In the end it took FOUR coats for it to look anything like what it looked like in the advertisement. Ahhhh, the power of marketing! 

 PROS:

-Nice colour once you build it up.

-Relatively cheap

-Large brush

- Easy to find in store.
-A bit of fun.

CONS:

- Need a multitude of coats to make this work. 

- The finish doesn't stay glossy at all so I had to add a top coat which didn't really do much, and meant I had 6 coats of polish together with the base coat I put on underneath!

-Thought this was a purple polish with glitter but it's really a clear polish with fine purple glitter and flakies.
-Seems to chip easily.

I think next time I will put a purple base coat of polish underneath and that should fix most of my problems. Overall, I don't hate it but I'm not head over heels for it either. 

Have you tried any of the other colours in this range? Are you a fan of glitter polish?

Printstagram

I don't know about you but I am addicted to Instagram. I spend way too much time flicking between filters and posting photos of just about everything delicious I eat, as well as sharing snaps of the places I go and the things I do. 

I don't carry a camera with me, and I never get around to sorting through digital photos and getting them printed out. Recently I stumbled across the website Printstagram who print out photos from your Instagram account! I choose photos similar to mini polaroid snaps and ordered a set. You can choose up to 48 photos which cost $12 plus shipping which was about another $12.

These mini prints are seriously awesome! I plan on writing little notes on the back so I can look back on them in a few years and remember where they were taken!

It took a few weeks for the photos to come but I wasn't in any rush so it didn't bother me. I love my little happy snaps and will order some more once I have racked up a few more photos.

Say My Name

Gillian

If there is one thing that sticks with you for life, it is your name. Well I know you could change it but not that many people tend to. 

Personally, I love my name and I couldn't think of anything else I would rather be called. I suppose it's because after 22 years I have become quite accustomed to being a Gillian - funny that! To an extent though I do think your name does shape your personality. 

I'm a Gillian with a G, so technically I should be Gillian pronounced Gill-as-in-fish-gill-ian but it's pronounced like Jillian with a J. My mum actually wanted it to be pronounced like it is spelt but people didn't say it like that that so it never stuck!

Depending where you look the meaning of my name is meant to be  'youthful' , 'young at heart' or 'downy haired'. Um, when I think downy haired I think of some unfortunate genetic condition! I prefer to lean towards  'young at heart' as I like to think I will be young forever and I think that shines through in my personality. 

For a bit of fun I searched Gillian on Urban Dictionary and this was the first entry:

"An amazing person inside, attractive, can be shy on the outside to new people but once you get to know them very outgoing and silly in a good way. Best friend to possibly have, never tells secrets. Sometime insecure because others put them down. Gillian is a truly fun person to be around."

Some of those things describe me, I am definitely outgoing and silly in a good way ( that's what I tell myself!) , don't tell secrets and am fun to be around. 

So tell me about your name? Do you like it? Would you change it? What does it mean? Tell me all!