Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Emporium Vintage Sale Frock

I haven't really bought many new (by new I mean from an op shop or consignment store) clothes in AGES. But when I heard that the annual Emporium Vintage Sale was on at the weekend,  I thought I'd head down to Mighty Mighty where the event was being held and see if I could find myself a bargain or two. In my head I was going to leave with bags and bags of vintage goodies - but it wasn't to be! Not much really caught my eye, I found a couple of scarves (I ALWAYS do) but I did find this super rad "USA made" dress that made the whole even worthwhile.
I have to admit its not my usual style - but I really do love this frock! Plus it almost looks like a respectable, grown up office dress.

Hope that the start of your week is going well - only three days till the weekend. Hurrah!

Travel Memories Tuesday - Halong Bay, Vietnam

If you've visited Hanoi - there is a good chance you've visited or at least heard of Halong Bay. It's a really beautiful place.

When Rich and I visited Vietnam we spent a couple of nights on a tour in Halong Bay - cruising around on a fancy wooden boat and swimming, checking out some caves and enjoying the view.

Some people will tell you when you visit South East Asia you need to dress comfortably for the weather and wear loose, comfortable clothing.

I think when you travel in South East Asia you must make every effort to look as adorable as you possibly can and most importantly, if you're going to be on a boat you MUST wear something with an anchor on it.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Labour Day Adventures in Greytown

It's Labour Day today which means I don't have to go to work - hurrah! Originally a whole bunch of us were meant to head to Greytown for the day, but in the end only two of us went "over the hill" - my friend Nankz and I. But we still had a blast.

We started off with some lunch - we both ended up having eggs on toast for lunch, not particularly adventurous.  I thought I'd share some of the kitsch in the cafe we went to though, it was called "Cahoots".

We came across an "Art Car" - well I guess that's what I'd call it! Parts of this old car had been cut out to make it look like one big stencil. It was pretty cool.


 When a bunch of us visited Greytown at Easter we ate here - its pink and adorable.
 Map of the "big smoke" of Greytown - its a typical New Zealand town - one HUGE main street.
 We visited "The Lolly Jar" and it was such a pretty shop - lollies from all over the world. Including some special lollies for Halloween.


 I've never actually visited this store - but I've always loved this sign.
There are a lot of cute little shops like this in Greytown - old cottages that have been converted to shops, cafes or accomodation.
Hope you enjoyed this wee snapshot of my Monday off work - hope you're all having a good week!

Sunday, October 27, 2013

The Monthly Stitch - Frocktober - Purple Velvet Dress

You may remember this post where I told you all my plan for frocktober was to make one Halloween themed dress for each week in October. I feel like I may have over-committed myself, but I am going to continue to try and make four Halloween inspired/themed dresses even if some of them come into existence after Halloween.
Here's my second Halloween themed dress - its purple (again) and its a very deep shade of purple. This is more of a gothic witch inspired frock.
So I should let you all know that the last couple days have been EXTREMELY windy, even by Wellington standards and that's been putting my haircut to the test. Which is a problem, my haircuts are usually based on being manageable in our wild weather conditions!
This is another dress made from Maudella 5619 - basically when I find a pattern I love I used it around a billion times! I'm not as crazy about this version of the dress as early versions, I may try it with a belt and see if I like it more.

I am currently working on my fourth Halloween dress and I have started stitching it up - want a sneak peak? Well here you go!
It's being made from a pattern I've never used before *shock horror* the Derby Dress pattern by Christine Haynes. I'm making the fabric on the right and I'm using black cotton and some of that sweet little ghost/coffin fabric. 

Just one thing before I go - I thought I'd share my wee ghost necklace - I think he adds an extra creepy cute touch to the outfit.
Hope you've all had a lovely weekend - now its time to go and sew up my next dress!

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Spring Fun Times - Aro Valley

Last week Rich handed in his final assignment for 2013 - yah! Which means we can actually hang out this weekend and seen as it was a nice spring day (at the moment the weather seems to float between lovely days at storms) we decided to walk to Aro Valley (one of the inner city suburbs of Wellington).

We used to live here before we traveled to live in Korea, but since coming back to Wellington we rarely visit Aro - which is a shame as its a really fun part of the city. 

One of my favourite things about Aro has always been the street art and as usual it didn't disappoint - look at this bus shelter. I especially love the ziggy stardust tee shirt the brunette is wearing.
There are only a few shops in Aro - but one of them was this cute furniture/giftshop called "The General Store". If we had a house of our own or even an apartment with space I would love to buy some stuff from here.
 How cool are these handles - if I had a set of drawers that needed handles, I'd be getting these!
 These cards appealed to Rich - perfect cards for a librarian!
Any shop window that included cross-stitch is a winner in my book!

I always loved this old building, I don't know it was used for originally, but some of our friends attend philosophy classes here.
Whilst in Aro we came across a St. Vinnies that wasn't there when we lived in Aro so we had to check it out - obviously.
There wasn't too much in the way of clothing - it was all modern stuff. But Rich picked up a wee tray and I found four vintage patterns I liked. I especially like Simplicity 8682 - on the cover it looks like a wrap dress, but actually its a top and a skirt.



After a spot of shopping we decided to buy some ice blocks and sit in the sun at Aro park.
Here's a few mote photos of street art around Aro - I love it all!



On our way back into the city Rich and I stopped off at our favourite second hand shop of all time - David White Gallery. In the end we only bought some hooks for the apartment, not terribly exciting. But even if you don't buy a thing - David White Gallery is ALWAYS worth a visit.



I hope you all have a super weekend - we have a long weekend here in New Zealand to celebrate Labour Day so my weekend has only just begun!

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Travel Memories Tuesday: Modern Toilet Restaurant, Taipei

Last week Rich showed me an article about the worlds weirdest restaurants - on the list was the "Modern Toilet Restaurant" in Taipei. When we spend three months in Taipei the Modern Toilet Restaurant was on the top of my list of placed to visit. In the restaurant the seats are shaped like toilets, all the meals are served in either toilets or other bathroom themed items, like a urinal or a soap dish. Rich decided to get the curry and it was served in a toilet. Good times.  As we were leaving, I posed with one of the restaurants characters/mascots - a pink poo. I love Asia so much!


Sunday, October 20, 2013

Solo Date: Tennyson Street Fair and Waterfront Walk

Rich is crazy busy this weekend, finishing up his last paper of the semester (hurrah!) so I've been hanging out by myself most of the weekend.  I decided yesterday I really wanted to check out the Tennyson Street Fair an I guess I could of text a friend or two to find someone to come along with me, but then I thought, actually sometimes it's kind of nice to spend time by yourself. So I decided to go solo and it was still pretty fun.

Tennyson Street is an inner city Wellington street and when I read about the fair I decided it sounded like it would be really fun to go. I'm so happy spring is here and summer is just around the corner so the season of fairs and festivals is upon us!
I was pretty excited to see when I walked into the fair that there was a whole space dedicated to animals! It's not something you often see at city fairs - but I was so excited to see some furry friends in the city. 
 This wee shetland pony was strapped into a cart - I guess maybe to give kiddies rides?
So there were two ridiculously fluffy chickens (or perhaps bantams), two bunnies and two guinea pigs all hanging out together. I have never seen fluffy chickens like these guys before, they were pretty awesome!
Here's the bunny being feed by one of the local kiddies who managed to find some grass from somewhere? I'm not sure quite where as this area is pretty much full of apartments.
 More adorable bunny and chicken times.
There was also a donkey in the city - he's much smaller than my mum's donkey Sultan, but he was pretty friendly.
Finally an alpaca or is it a llama? How do you tell the difference? I didn't try to pet him as I've heard that alpaca/llama can spit at you. I actually don't know if that is true, or some kind of old wives tale. Either way I'm not taking the chance. There was also a cute goat hanging out with the alpaca/llama, but I didn't get a picture as he was surrounded by kids - turns out goats are pretty popular animals.
The had all the usual fair goodies on sale - candy floss, candy apples and the like. There was also a church stall that had amazing baked goodies. I bought Rich a cake pop to help him along with his study.
There were loads of stalls selling cute things - I really liked these swirly sticks, they looked so pretty in the sun. If I didn't live in an apartment I would have bought one! 
One of the stalls had a bubble machine - you can see the bubbles float past this old building and sign for the fair.
I love the street art of the city - its one of the reasons I love living in town so much (that and the fact everything is so close).
There was a band playing the blues at the end of the street - I'm not sure what they were called but they were pretty awesome. They were singing a song about first world blues and tough issues like paying $2.50 for bottled water and not being able to buy the latest iphone. 
 As you can all see it was a stunner of a day - look at those blue skies!
Before I left to go to the fair I asked Rich if he wanted anything and his response was something for lunch - so I took home some hari krishna food, its just not a festival without delicious hari krishna food. 

I took home the curries and rice to have lunch with Rich and ask it was such a nice day I decided to head to the waterfront for a walk in the sunshine.
I decided to stop and sit in the sun with a gelato - chocolate and cherry flavours.
They bring this piano out to the waterfront on sunny days - too bad Rich wasn't with me, he can actually play piano!
A few more photos of our pretty city in the sunshine!


There is a fence along the bridge on the waterfront where people put padlocks - to secure true love perhaps?
Finally a newish mural that's now on a building across the road from Te Papa - its by BMD and I love all the sharks - especially the three eyed shark.




The mural actually has a serious side, its to help raise awareness of and hopefully contribute to an end to shark finning in New Zealand waters. Greenpeace is currently running a major campaign to ban shark finning in our waters and if you're a Kiwi sign up and see how you can help stop it happening here. I'm not against eating delicious fish, but this is a brutal and also wasteful practice and I really don't think it should be happening here.

I hope that you've all had a lovely weekend - I'm off to finish up Halloween themed dress number two!