You’ll all be aware of the devastating weather events happening in my home country at the moment. The most far reaching and cataclysmic of these are the floods in Queensland. We all have friends and family directly affected by these floods, with many loosing their homes, their businesses and some; their lives.

These are the times that we all do our bit to pull together and find ways to support each other in the best and most effective ways we can. A whole bunch of us local bloggers have gotten together with the help of Nuffnang, to put together a charity auction to raise much needed funds for the recovery effort.

The auctions, run with the official endorsement of the QLD Government, are taking place through eBay and you can bid on them RIGHT NOW!

What am I offering for this effort? Well, you can bid on a one on one session with me where you’ll not only be made over and transformed with vintage styled hair and makeup, but also learn a whole bunch of trips to perfect your look!

So don’t wait a minute more. Head on over to eBay and get bidding on the offering of your choice! My Vintage Hair and Makeup auction can be found here.

Today I’m off to the big tourist spot Patong Beach to each seafood and teach my girls about just how much fun / challenge / drainingly exhausting, bargain hunting in the markets can be.  This means we’ll be in the blistering sun, the afternoon pouring rain and be walking a lot from store to store. What does one wear?!

I’ve chosen a favourite hot weather standby. A little faux silk (eBay forgot to mention the faux bit), chiffon dress with a geometric print, soft shoulder strap and fully lined skirt.  It is floaty enough for the hot weather, but also not so sheer that the afternoons down pour would create a problem. It dries off in no time and manages to retain a happy go lucky look, instead of drowned tourist in bad sarong, look.

The shoes I found last week at Novo especially for the trip.  I wanted a wedge that had good height and some platform to take away the extreme height, but also something that would stand getting wet and keep me just that bit elevated out of miscellaneous puddles and gunk.. ewwww…

They are pretty much all plastic and the straps have a fine zipper edging which makes a cute detail. The bows sold me on these though, as I knew they’d work with just about everything in my holiday wardrobe. ( A word on how I plan that and make it happen is coming up in another post)

As for hair and makeup, I keep it simple.  Mineral makeup for sheer light coverage, my usual winged liner, a soft mauve shadow with highlights and just a light lip gloss. A strong red lip doesn’t last long here for two reasons – the heat melts it as does the oil in the food, and I’m not giving up my green curry just for the sake of my lipstick!

Today it is off to Turtle Beach, to see if it lives up to its name. But either way, it is simply divine here; I may have to hideout here for a while…

Hi everyone! Well we finally all made it here and after two days down time, which is offline time for me, I’m logging back in (why are there always tech problems when you try to do this on holiday?) to keep my promise and share with you some of the sights, fun and of course the outfits that make this holiday.

Travelling outfits can be a challenge at the best of times, but when travelling from Melbourne’s 14 degrees into hot and seriously humid Thailand, there is even more to be considered.  It wasn’t just weather that was a challenge for me this trip, but the fact that we’d decided to take both the girls with us on their first overseas trip.  So whatever I wore had to deal with being sat on, jumping up and down for 50 toilet breaks, carrying tired children, taking me in and out of cars, trains, restaurants and security checks. So jersey and ballet flats it was!  I also brought along my trusty pashmina that has a billion and one uses on trips like these; from blanket to scarf, to hair saver in the rain and modesty provider in religious locations.

I didn’t get any photos of my outfit before I left, but I did snap this one when we finally arrived out our Thailand destination – a whole 15 hours travelling!

So its day one, and the weather is amazing. Yes it is super humid, but not too sunny and there is a gentle breeze.  Its that feeling you get the first day of holidays when you don’t know what time it is, you don’t want to get dressed, you just want someone to arrive and bring you cocktails and peel you  grape or two.

Knowing there would be days like this, I made sure I packed a few dresses that I could just throw on with little to no effort and still look presentable.  This is one.

Its a simple jersey maxi dress, nothing constricting and not too revealing, but has a great hawaiian style print which is why it caught my eye.

I found this one at Harris Scarf and it set me back a whole $19! Worn with my hair simple and loose, with one side pinned back with a yellow hibiscus is all it took to create todays relaxed, pool side style.

Usually the humidity wreaks havoc with my hair making it all fluffy and impossible to do anything with. But it has held up very well the fist few days thanks to one thing – its not clean.  Yes, that does sound a bit ick, but what I mean is it isn’t freshly washed and light as air.  Instead, because I had a shoot the day before I left, my hair was set and filled with quite a bit of oil based product.  The oil has helped to seal the hair making it much harder for the moisture to get in and ‘fluff’ it up! So I’ve managed to keep my long loose curls for a few extra days on the beach!  So the plan today is to test out the effectiveness of using macadamia oil to achieve the same results..

I have so many fantastic and fun things planned on this trip that I can hardly wait to share it all with you, but of course these things take time. So while I’m on the run and between internet connections, make sure you check in with my Facebook and Twitter where you’ll get to see pics of all kinds of things that you won’t see here on the blog. (I’m even meeting up with some very special international guest bloggers!!)

I’ll be showing you outfits, fabulous food, monkey adventures, places to shop, gorgeous people, how and what to pack, travel tips… all kinds of things! And if there is anything you’d specifically like to see or hear about, make sure to let me know in the comments and I’ll do my best to cover it for you in the coming weeks.

Hi all!

I’m currently about to head off to Thailand for a few days after madly racing around getting everything organised. I’ve been a bit behind the eight ball tis week as it isn’t just me traveling this time, but the WHOLE family! e’re taking Miss 6 and Miss 3 for their first big trip so there have been many plans to make, outfits to choose and cuddle pillows to find.

Rest assured that I will be sharing all these adventures with you, as well as some pool side chic. You’ll just have to wait another day to see it all! In the meantime, make sure to add me to Facebook or Twitter where you’ll see my updates along the way.

Next time I see you I’ll be in sunny Thailand!! Yay!

I love this outfit.  It’s comfortable, cute, easy, quick and show stoppingly good. There are very few places this combination won’t take you. Meet another new instalment to my wardrobe I like to call Leopard Lust!

Outfit Details

Top – Frankie by Peta Pledger (Melbourne Made!)

Capri Pants – Siren in black by Bernie Dexter

Leopard print ballet flats – Diana Ferrari

Seriously, is this not killer casual?!  It did make me laugh though, when at lunch time today the man at the noodle shop asked for my autograph as he was convinced I was a movie star but just didn’t know who I was! Ha ha!

The top is a mid weight fabric with lots of stretch and I love the length of the sleeves – very forgiving and flattering I think.  It also has a good amount of length and works either pulled down, ruched up a bit or smoothed down and tucked in without getting bunchy at the bottom.  Bernie’s awesome capris (of which I love so much I now have 3 pairs!), are also a mid weight stretch cotton denim. What I adore about these is that they are both high waisted and extremely well tailored with four darts at the front and another decent set behind, so they hug right into the small of your back and make your butt looks incredible.  They also have a rear zip; a nickel zip no less – which means that they have super hold power and sit beautifully. Next to those wide leg pants I custom make to fit myself, these are my absolute favourite pants I’ve ever worn.  For an outfit that is so streamlined, the fabrics make it surprisingly forgiving and infinitely comfortable.

It didn’t take a whole lot of creative styling to put together such a simple look, but it goes to show that comfort can be  both cute and chic!