Wintersun was nothing if not a fabulous time for photo opportunities, and it seems that I got around quite a bit!  Here’s a look at some of the cameos I made during the week.

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Promoting Wintersun and Charm School in the Tweed Daily

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Wintersun lead story for Gold Coast news.

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Promoting the Wintersun vintage swimsuit parade organised by Nicole Jenkins of Circa Vintage Clothing and The Lindy Charm School for Girls in the Gold Coast Bulletin.

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Possibly my favorite swimsuit of the parade – and another shot of it here.

One of my all time favorite moments of the week posing it up in the laundromat with my darling friend Kesenya.

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Trying  really had to Lindy Hop with my friend Miss Carly!

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Working it in a 1950’s black lace swimsuit.

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Finding a 1930’s vibe in a sweet blue suit.

I still have a pile of photos and fun to share with you, not least of which are highlights from the great 1950’s Cake Bake Contest, my pick of the best of the bands and the very, very odd local colour! (Hint – it has feathers!)

* Please note – all images are property of The Tweed Daily and The Gold Coast Bulletin where stated and remain their property.*

No, not fallen off the face of the earth but living it up at Wintersun!  I’m here at Coolangatta on the Gold Coast, which by all accounts is far preferable to Melbourne this week with its near freezing temperatures and driving rain.  I finally have a chance to log on and show you a snippet of what has been happening here so far, although the past few days have been more about relaxing and gearing up for the delightful madness to come.

Before I show you a selection of what’s happening, I have to say a big thank you to the surfer boys here at Coolangatta who have been prettying up my view each morning as they come in from the surf. What a way to start a morning!

I’m up here specifically to model for a couple of swimwear parades, highlighting a fantastic collection of swimwear from the 1930’s – 1970’s.  Other than that, there is a lot of other bits a pieces happening. Dancing, workshops, vintage shopping, unbelievable music and a congregation of the most STUNNING classic cars!  Really, it is a slice of vintage paradise and we’ve only just begun.

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Hitting the town with Nicole Jenkins and Miss Carly for our first night out to see if we can’t put those dance lessons to good use.

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Checking out the view from the balcony each morning. Who needs pilates to get the heart rate up?

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Private dance lessons with the very talented and highly swoon worthy Ray Keepence ( Miss Chrissy’s husband).

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Getting completely girly and doing hair and makeup together.

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Hitting the clubs… again.

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Watching the most stunning sunsets over the water. Life really doesn’t get much better than this.

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And now to take a deep breath before we dive head first into the complete and utter delicious madness of a Wintersun long weekend!

More and more pictures on the way, but if you want to keep up with what we’re doing and seeing, follow my Twitter for all the Twitpic worthy moments.

When I flew out to Hobart last Friday morning at 7am,  the last thing I wanted to do was spend ages getting ready at the crack of sparrows o’clock.  We’ve talked about how to dress for travel before, yet it seems that this is one activity that people place on a par with going to the gym when it comes to what they wear.  So I thought this time I’d give you my real world example from this shot that Mr SKM took on my way out the door at 6am.

Yes, it was a vintage weekend so the outfit did have a serious 1940’s tone going on, but other than that, I can tell you with certainty this this is no less comfortable than wearing a track suit for travel.

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Outfit Details

Dress – 1970’s Perri Cutten woollen knit

Belt – made from vintage buckles and modern band

Stockings – Compression stockings for warmth and comfort in freezing Hobart weather

Petticoat – (unseen) 1950’s silk full slip

Shoes – Lucia Rossi satin finish basic pumps

Gloves – vintage woollen felt

Hat – 1940’s felt afternoon hat

Earrings – 1950’s pearl screw on’s

Hair – Side sweeps with the rest in a net to stop it getting messed up

I also took a coat that I could wear over my knees in the plane and put on when disembarking.

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It certainly wasn’t a difficult outfit to put together. I didn’t have to match colours, worry about many accessories or extra bulk.  Even better, by keeping it streamlined and the fabrics simple it meant that I didn’t have to disrobe at the airport for security.  No big heavy belts or earrings setting off alarms; not even steel heeled stilettos to stop me in my tracks.

So yes, dressing simply, comfortably and well for travel can be done. It just takes a little forethought and the banishment of running shoes!

Did you miss me? Oh but it was such a luxury to take a little holiday like that! Unlike office workers and many others who clock off on holidays, it is hard for a blogger to ever “switch off”. It’s rather difficult to tear ourselves away from the reading, the writing and our obsessive addiction to Twitter etc. But for the sake of my brain, I find that it is important to take a little break from time to time and refill the cup so to speak. So I’m back, filled with summer sunshine (although I do not sit in it) and shiny new ideas.

Taking a little Christmas journey to Sydney was a welcome change of scenery, and an exercise in patience as we chose to do it as a road trip with the two girls. If I never hear the soundtrack to Barbie Island Princess again it will be too soon! The best thing about long car trips though, is the chance to really let your brain unwind and listen to itself with very little distraction. To consider all the things that for background noise, you may not have heard yourself thinking for the last year or so. It also gave me the opportunity to realise that I’m not terribly skilled in the act of dressing casually – a great new quest for this year.

We stayed at the Sydney Marriott Hotel in Circular Quay. It has amazing views and you can walk to just about everything.  Miss Five was thrilled and wanted to know how she could organise to go and sing at the Opera House because she “is really quite good at singing and dressing up”!

There were several adventures into Chinatown for dumplings and Hello Kitty paraphernalia, as well as the eye opening experience of Boxing Day sales for Miss Five. We didn’t go to shop so much as to people watch and marvel at the insanity of it all. We swam (indoors), we attempted cocktail hour with small children (thank god they love blue cheese), we ate so much we couldn’t sleep and Mama even got one afternoon off for High Tea at the Observatory Hotel.  But it was the early morning beach visit on the trip home that truly captured that very Australian of sentiments, “Ah the serenity…”

My lovely family as seen from the shady spot under my ubiquitous parasol.

So welcome 2010.

What adventures might you hold?

* REMEMBER - you have until January 8th to enter the big Hideo Wakamatsu and Kodak contest! So get your entries in.  They don’t have to be poetry, fancy or even take up the whole 300 words – they just have to catch my imagination!  Anyone can do it, so spread the word, get writing and you could WIN a prize pack valued at $1000!

Santa came a little early for me this year, in the form of a stunning and much coveted new suitcase! I am feeling like a bone fide celebrity traveling with this beautiful lady holding all my treasures.

I came across Hideo Wakamatsu quite by accident and loved them so much I promptly contacted their Australian supplier to find out more about the brand.  Little did I know at the time that Hideo Wakamatsu had such a distinguished design history.

“Born in Tokyo, Japan, Hideo Wakamatsu showed a natural flair and passion for design. Through his formative years, his family’s business was lauded as Japan’s
premier luggage artisans. To this very day, their Randoseru schoolcase is considered a national treasure and is still adopted by Japanese school children and fashion gurus alike.”

Hideo Wakamatsu designs not only very practical luggage, but very very beautiful pieces, which is why I fell in love with them so quickly. It seems I am not alone in this feeling, which is the story behind how they made their way to Australian shores.  I spoke to the Australian distributor to find out just how these Japanese beauties came to be in my town.

” I got involved with the brand when I was traveling in London. I was on a bus when a cow print suitcase in a shop window caught my eye.  I couldn’t get this bright, happy print out of my mind, and so when I returned home, I looked for the suitcase online hoping to purchase one.  I found out that the products were not available in Australia, and so contacted the designer for the rights to bring the products into Australia and New Zealand.” … the rest is history.

I love it when people find something they love so much they just have to share it with others – hence this post!

As you can imagine the Sakura print (or Cherry Blossom) was my immediate favorite and I just had to have one to replace my current case.  I’ve been struggling with a large two wheeled suitcase for some time now, and while it is still relatively new, it just doesn’t handle the rigors of my travel. One of the major problems with the old one being that it weighs 7kg when empty so it meant I could bring less shopping home! The two wheel problem meant that I have had some very undignified moments struggling to get my very full suitcase over curbs, ending up stuck in a Tokyo down pour being soaked to the skin while I cursed my way to a taxi rank. Not very glamorous I can assure you.

So here is why I love my Hideo Wakamatsu Sakura case.  It has four, smooth inline wheels that mean not matter how full my case is, I can roll it with ease even in my towering heels. It is a light weight but tough hard shell case that stops my hats from being crushed and rain from soaking through. It has a secure and tight locking system with no zips to break or snag, just a combination to remember so don’t try and unpack if you’ve had too many airport cocktails!  It has HANGERS inside! Not just a suit section, but actual hangers that I can hang things on in the case and then remove to hang in the wardrobe wherever I go. I particularly love this feature as it makes me think of the old fashioned steamer trunk and instantly evokes promises of a great adventure.

And last but not least – the print. You will never get your luggage mixed up with anyone else’s because not only can you choose one of their amazing prints, but you can make your own on the Easel range of cases!

The Hideo Wakamatsu range runs from modern to traditional; even designing luggage that would not look out of place in the hands of Katherine Hepburn in the African Queen or perhaps on the dressing table in Elvis’ Blue Hawaii. Check out the gorgeous leopard print beauty case!

Oh they are just so good! In fact, I should very much like to extend to a whole collection and add this gorgeous Sakura Beauty Case. Considering I am planning another trip to Japan in 2010, it may be just the ticket!  You can find them online or at Flight 101 and R.G Madden for real world browsing.