All I want for February…

Tony Bianco Alicante Shoe $199.95

This article first appeared for Onya Magazine

The dating game has a long and pained history. Your chances of winning are not all that high, you can easily get hurt or embarrassed and the rules seem to change all the time. Why is this activity something that anyone would want to engage in?

Actually – why is this activity something that I would actively agree to participate in – en masse – for a number of weeks? Perhaps it’s the things I will do because I think it will make a good story. Or maybe it’s the good side of dating. Perhaps it’s the chance of meeting someone special or having a fantastic night out – meeting a kindred spirit or making a new friend.

Perhaps it’s just putting myself out there – after all, if you never play the game you will never have any chance of winning.

The Five in Five concept was first introduced to me several weeks ago. My first reaction was fear. If I hadn’t asked anyone out in the past (censored) number of years, how could I start now? If none of my friends had set me up with anyone in (censored) number of years, who would I go out with? How could I go on five dates in five weeks, when I hadn’t been on ANY in (censored) years?

I will be 28 years old next month. I often go on about my seemingly terminal state of singledom, but I never do anything about it. I have only ever asked one man out, and was rejected – once bitten, twice shy. Everyone I know (pretty much) is married or in a relationship. I blame the man drought, my busy lifestyle, my own nerves, but at the end of the day, I am still single.

In the interests of full disclosure, I am vehemently opposed to internet dating. I love the traditional notions of romanticism and having a quirky story to tell the grandkids – we clicked over coffee rather than I clicked your profile kind of thing. I appreciate this system really isn’t working for me, but I’m happy to wait. I do have a few good years left in me. Right?

Which is where Five in Five comes in. Five in Five means five dates in five weeks – a seemingly impossible notion – using traditional means. You ask friends, family, work colleagues and your networks if they know single people, ask out the stranger in your Woolies queue or the barista you have had your eye on for months. And the best bit? It’s for charity!

You: ‘Yes, good morning, can I have a flat white, a muffin and a date? It’s ok – it’s for charity’
Barista: ‘Sure. Do you want sugar? Pick you up Friday at 8?’

Or something like that. Start by registering at Five in Five to support homelessness, get some tips on dating and where you can find a man (or a woman!) and hook up some dates. Easy right?
It was time to get over the fear and just go for it. What did I have to lose? And so date number one was set up.

Found through a work colleague, date number one will from this point on be known as Brad Pitt. (This bears no resemblance to his appearance, age, occupation or otherwise, but since I was going to change the names of the dates anyways, I figured why not aim high? Stay tuned for Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Kevin Rudd (cause there’s always one) and Superman).

Brad was given my number and sent me a text introducing himself. A phone call the following weekend and I had my first date – midweek drinks. Which is when traditionally, the nerves and stereotypical freaking out tends to begin.

I am one of those people who want to know everything there is to know about what I am getting myself into. Google (and Facebook) has proven an excellent tool for this in recent years (don’t judge me, you do it too!*) but this time, I was at a loose end. No Facebook. No online history. All I had to go on was the brief profile from my work colleague.

He chose the restaurant and picked me up (win, win) and off we went. Of course I had agonised over my outfit, whether we would stay for dinner and all those other little things but as soon as we started talking, all those things were forgotten. Two glasses of wine and several hours later, we ordered food and the laughing and sharing continued.

By the time the winebar was close to empty and we called a cab, I had to admit I’d had a really good night and by most standards, a really good first date. Brad Pitt asked about going out again next week. I wonder if I can count that as number two for Five in Five?

No boys were harmed in the making of this column.

*For the record, Brad Pitt had no issue Googling me either.

To support Sarah, and raise funds for Concern Australia, visit her fundraising page here.

Further to the awesomeness that is Melbourne in Summer, this first week of February sees QV launch its 6th concert series to be held every Friday, Saturday and Sunday though the balmy afternoons and evenings of the shortest month of the year.

Taking place in QV Square, surrounded by bars, restaurants and shopping, the area will be transformed into a summertime oasis complete with grass, beanbags and a cruisy vibe, making it the perfect spot for relaxing night or lazy afternoons.

Zoophyte

First up on the QV calender is local band Zoophyte, featuring Andy Lee, followed in the coming days and weeks by Deborah Conway, Nick Barker, Loon Lake, Jade MacCrae, Red Ink, Bonnie Anderson, Ronit, the Fauves, the Seabellies, The New RAah Trio, Mahalia Barnes, Nick Barker and the Blackeyed Susans.

Deborah Conway

The QV Summer Concert Series will be held every Friday from 5.30pm-7.30pm and Saturday and Sundays from 2pm until 4pm during the month or February (from Friday February 3 to Sunday, February 26) and is totally free.

THE TIMETABLE OF ENTERTAINMENT

Week 1
Friday, 3 February 5:30pm – 7:30pm Zoophyte and Wellingtons
Saturday, 4 February 2pm – 4pm Deborah Conway
Sunday, 5 February 2pm – 4pm Loon Lake
Week 2
Friday, 10 February 5:30pm – 7:30pm Jade MacCrae
Saturday, 11 February 2pm – 4pm Red Ink
Sunday, 12 February 2pm – 4pm Bonnie Anderson and Ronit
Week 3
Friday, 17 February 5:30pm – 7:30pm The Fauves
Saturday, 18 February 2pm – 4pm The Seabellies
Sunday, 19 February 2pm – 4pm The New RAah Trio
Week 4
Friday, 24 February 5:30pm – 7:30pm Mahalia Barnes
Saturday, 25 February 2pm – 4pm Nick Barker (Solo)
Sunday, 26 February 2pm – 4pm Blackeyed Susans

I’m getting married!

Well, not anytime soon, but one day – and yesterday, I found THE dress.

Actually, it’s probably more the dress to change into, or maybe for the rehearsal dinner, but it is THE dress, and its amazing.

Visiting Paris 99 is always a wonderful experience but yesterday was particularly epic. THE dress, created for a fashionista somewhere in New York (I die!), was handmade and designed by Luca Luca, a label founded in New York in the early 90s by Italian Luca Orlandi.

Image thanks to Yahav at Paris 99

Luca Luca is a very Upper East Side; glamourous, luxurious and gorgeously put together label, for the gorgeously put together woman. For a stage in the early 2000s the label turned in the direction of the ‘new young things’, catering to the New York party scene, but in 2008 Raul Mendoza took over from Orlandi as creative director and brought a new freshness and refinement, creating beautifully designed and lovingly produced wardrobe pieces for everyone. (Descriptor thanks to Yahav at Paris 99).

But back to THE dress – the fabric is a crispy dense silk organza and swirls beautifully. The floral print is just divine and hidden underneath are metres and metres of tulle, providing the perfect amount of volume. Hand finishing everywhere and a watermelon silk crepe belt.

AH-MAZING.

While this dress did cost more than most women pay for their wedding dress when it was created, it is just a fraction of the cost at Paris 99 and by the time I lose the required few kilo’s so that I can afford to eat whilst wearing it, I may just have saved enough to buy it.

I did have to leave this gorgeous dress behind yesterday, but I did come home with a Rodarte metallic blue silk skirt.  I’ll be back to visit THE dress again soon though!

Wow, that’s an awful lot of F’s in one title!

On the 31st of March this year, the inaugural FASHION FIX FROCK FUNDRAISER will be held, where fashionistas can snag their friends (and friends-of-friends) fabulous pre-loved frocks from $50.

But before then, they need your help…….FROCK DONATIONS.

Search your closets and donate a dress (or 2!) to help raise much needed funds.

While this might be the excuse you’ve been looking for to tick off one New Year’s resolution by finally cleaning out your closet, please only donate dresses which you would be caught dead in and ensure they are pressed, dry cleaned or in a condition you would be happy to buy.

This year ALL funds raised will go to THE ALANNAH AND MADELINE FOUNDATION – a charity keeping children safe from violence.

Please check out their website and read about the great work they do. Specifically funds raised will go towards their Buddy Bags Program.

Please pass on to friends and family and thank you for your support.

One of my oldest and dearest friends told me a few weeks ago that she planned to shave her head for the World’s Greatest Shave this March.

This isn’t something I could do. My own personal vanity gets in the way. I realise that this makes me superficial, vain and shallow, but its just not something that I could do. But she is going to and I am prouder of her than perhaps anyone I have ever been proud of in my life.

So I ask you, who probably feels like I that our hair is an intergral part of our persona, to sponsor my brave friend and find a cure for luekemia so that we all may keep our hair in the future.

Sponsor Wendy here – this is her message to you:

Hi Everyone!!

I’m being brave and doing the Worlds Greatest Shave! Yes I am crazy and hope you will join me to see the locks fall off on Saturday 17th March.

Please sponsor me now! Otherwise, its just me looking like an idiot.

It is so easy to believe these things can never happen to you, and to understand the pain and suffering that occurs with cancer can not be duplicated. But! I hope that my decision to brave the shave will show my loved ones who have been through so much know how I wish I could take away their suffering and share the hardships endured.

– The money you give will help fund important research into leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloma and other blood disorders.

– Today, 31 Australians will get the news they have blood cancer. Your donation will support them from the moment they are diagnosed. All the Leukaemia Foundation’s services are free. Let’s keep them that way.

Wendy

It’s getting warmer. FINALLY.

In the past week I have worn new clothes that are over a year old – yes, I do have clothes in my closet that still have tags on that have been there that long – and managed to spend enough time outside to feel like I may expire if my body temperate raises just one degree.

(Entertain me, if you will, cause I know you are still smarting over the 12 months old, new clothes. We didn’t get a summer last year. Especially not the kind that requires skirts from Paris or playsuits from eBay. We are about to have more than 3 days in a row of warmth and I plan to take full advantage. Three changes of clothes a day is acceptable, is it not?)

There are lots of cool things to do in the city (in Melbourne town that is) like the Queen Vic Night Market (every Wednesday in summer) the South Melbourne Style After Dark Market (Thursdays, from March 1) or simply grab a Slurpee in fresh new summer flavours like Lemon, Lime and Bitters, Gingerbeer (a world frirst!), Tropical Mango or Orange, Mandarin and Passionfruit (and Slurpee also have cool tee’s available now, designed by 2 of australia’s hottest street artists. $15 RRP or free if you buy 15 supersize Slurpee’s!) and head to St Kilda beach (where there is also a market, every Sunday).

Every one of these fine establishments houses a bevy of fashion and jewellery to make your closet sing. My favourite from the Queen Vic Market last week is the Swan Emporium (248 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy 3065 Ph 9417 0677) – a place so cool, they don’t even have a website yet.

Happy Market days – or nights!

Celebrate the most sacred of days in ways only Honey know how.