Pinkerton Manor

It’s sooooo hot today!  Weatherzone tells me the current temperature in Brisbane is 30.6°C with 69% humidity, making it feel like 36.3°C.  I love that Weatherzone has the ‘feels like’ temperature, it makes me feel like my whinging about the heat is somehow more justified.  Apparently there’s a slight chance of a storm this afternoon, but we’re still expecting a low of 26°C overnight.  And that’s not until 3am!

Thankfully, Matt has been keeping us well supplied with iced tea.  At the moment it’s black tea with mandarin and it’s rather delicious and very refreshing.  I love having a boyfriend who works in a tea shop.  Since he started working there we have slowly accumulated a collection of different flavours and varieties and I’ve learned a lot about tea too.  For example, rooibos is not actually from a tea plant, but rather a legume.  Crazy stuff, huh?

I’m sure I’ll post further about tea, but for now here’s what I wore today.  The skirt and top are both thrifted, the necklace was a gift, as was the lotus hairclip and the sandals are from Big W.  I’ve been wearing the sandals a lot this summer because they’re nice and cool and no fuss to put on.  In fact, I’ve worn them so much that I’ve actually developed sandal tan.  How embarrassing!

I really should start putting sunscreen on my feet.  Right now, though, I need some more iced tea before I melt.

Today I am channelling my inner domestic goddess and getting some household chores done.  Washing, dishes, cleaning and tidying are all on the agenda, but I may need to duck out later to pick up a few things for dinner tonight (and possibly a sweet reward for myself!).  I’ve also decided that I need to go through all my clothes (again) and assess my wardrobe situation.  I’ve got a few bags of clothes and things that I need to list on eBay already, but I’m thinking I might end up adding to that.

I chose a few simple pieces to layer today, but not too heavy since it’s still warm here in Brisbane.  The top I bought on clearance at Kmart, shorts are thrifted, 3/4 leggings from a discount outlet and the scarf was a gift from Matt’s mum.  I had a go at academichic’s ‘pretzel tie’ and absolutely love the way it looks with this scarf.  I’m so excited that they’re having a ’scarf month’ this month and can’t wait to see more.

And now I’m off to clean the stove!

To make up for my lack of posts of late, I have a little story to tell.  And above is what I wore today.  I managed to con Matt into taking my photo since I still don’t have a tripod.  He’s not as artistic with his photography as Louie, but at least he gets my entire body in the shot.  Tshirt from some outlet store at DFO Canberra, denim shorts I cut down from a pair of old jeans, shoes from Big W and scarf from Tree of Life.  Now on to the story.

I recently slipped up on my resolution to only buy second hand or hand made.  I bought a cheap singlet from Big W.  It’s actually quite a nice little top (see below) and I’ve worn it a bunch of times already, but it’s nothing outstanding.  In fact, the reason I bought it actually has nothing to do with what it looks like.  I bought it because I got self conscious and didn’t feel comfortable in what I was wearing at the time.  Pretty lame, yeah?

It gets quite hot and humid here during summer, so I walked out the door wearing a denim skirt and a large scarf styled as a halter over a bikini top.  I love the versatility of scarves and I’ve worn them like this before.  The scarf in question (see above) is big enough that it covered me from neck to waist on the front, leaving my shoulders exposed and just a little bit of lower back peeking out if I sat down, but after about an hour of being out and about I suddenly felt incredibly self conscious.  With a two hours to go before meeting a friend, I panicked and bought the cheapest top I could lay my hands on.

It’s very rare that I will feel uncomfortable in what I’m wearing like that, but the few times it has happened it seems to have hit me quite hard.  After some quiet reflection over an iced chocolate the next day, I realised that the way I felt had pretty much nothing to do with clothes.  I was already feeling a bit shit that day and although I felt ’safer’ once I was wearing a conventional top I still didn’t feel great the rest of the day.  I guess, in a way, my new top will serve as a rather pretty reminder that I make my style because my style shouldn’t make me.

Back in Brisbane and loving it.  Still adjusting to the humidity after so much dry weather in Canberra, but it’s great to have good coffee and sushi places in more than two locations.  And multiple Nando’s, all of which include drinks in the meal deals!  Plus I love Brisbane.  It’s home.

I’ve really missed that view.  I’ve been walking a lot lately, taking everything in and making an effort to take different routes and occasionally deviate from my destination.  I want to get to know the city better and hopefully get some good photos along the way too.

Second hand or hand made is going well(ish).  I bought swimmers from a store the other day, but I justified it to myself with the fact that I’m incredibly fussy about swimmers and these were only $17.  And I needed them asap since my previous bikini disintegrated in Melbourne and I need to start swimming as exercise for my knees (I’ve even been looking into aquarobics).

Speaking of aqua, Matt gave me one of the best gifts I have ever received for Christmas.  A fish tank!  And once we have it set up, he’s taking me to buy a couple of fantails.  I’m so excited.  We went and had a look at some fish last week, they’re so cute with their swimming around and looking pretty.  We also looked at seahorses and although I could keep them in my tank without any problems, Matt thinks they’re weird (and I would probably spend all my time watching them with quiet awe).

And now I leave you with what was meant to be an outfit photo.  I didn’t realise how great being able to use Mum’s tripod was until trying to take these photos.  I think I will have to invest in my own.

Hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas and New Years!

EDIT:  Reading By Hillary just now and was reminded that I forgot to include what I’m wearing in the above photo.  So, here it is.

Awesome t-shirt – thrifted, very comfortable purple pants – Tree of Life, amethyst earrings – gift from Matt, necklace with pendant watch – eBay, garnet bracelet – made by me.

T-shirt – Maddisson
Cardigan – Hand me down from Mum
Jeans – Hot Options

I’ve just been hanging out at home today doing washing and tidying up a bit. When I go out to do my groceries later I’ll probably throw my Volleys on.

——–

I totally did put my Volleys on and I went to the local Asian grocery store for the first time. Holy mackerel! So many vegetarian fake meat options! So much tofu! So many different spices and sauces and tasty, tasty things! If I’d known it was so awesome I’d have cashed up before I walked in. I ended up buying a bag of frozen vegetarian ‘tuna’ and some dehydrated TVP ‘beef’ strips. I’ve been a vegetarian for over ten years and I still miss tuna. One of my favourite meals growing up was tuna and mayo warmed through and served on toast. I tried the mashed up chickpeas thing, but seriously who actually thinks that tastes like tuna?

Anyway, I’m going to give this frozen stuff a go this week and Louie has kindly agreed to help me review it. We may even make fake meat reviews a regular blogging feature. I did see fake shrimp today too. Oooh yeeeaaah!

Oh, also, I made this last night:

Cardigan – Colorado
Singlet – possibly Bonds
Shorts – Valley Girl
Tights – Hand me downs from Mum
Shoes – Dunlop Volleys
(Cat – Cilla)

Bit annoyed my shoes and tights didn’t show up very well in this photo. There’s a close up of them here if anyone is interested.

Yay! I finally started submitting to wardrobe_remix. Oh, also, I moved to Canberra. Unfortunately, I had to leave about four fifths of my wardrobe in Brisbane. I’ve been here in Canberra for about two months now and I miss so many things about Brisbane. The weather, my friends, the river, the weather, the public transport network (buses here suck), all the clothes and shoes I couldn’t bring with me… did I mention the weather? Anyway, I’m in Canberra with my Mum and Louie and I scored a job in a craft store.

I’m actually going to start blogging again for real now too. Go me!