My Paris travelling companion, Miss J, posted this image to her blog this week.
This will be me in 2 months and 5 days.

My relationship with pants over the past twenty years has been a strange one.

I’m sure as a child I spent plenty of time in drill pants and my primary school years are a blur of black tracksuit pants but it was during high school that I discovered the skirt and the dress and I never looked back.

I started year 7 in perhaps the daggiest navy blue school slacks one could wear. It only took three months before I realised that rain, hail or shine, the school skirt (which I had told mum I would NEVER wear) was the height of sophistication and I was done with the pants.

Our school skirt was, in terms of school uniforms, one of the better ones. Navy with a red and white tartan stripe, worn with a white top. While we wore polo tee’s untucked with ankle socks and doc martens, I can imagine how much classier it would have been with knee high socks, mary jane’s and a short sleeve crisp white shirt. (Ahh what Gossip Girl has done for the humble uniform!)

But alas – this post is about pants and I’m getting off track. The point was, the school skirt led to a love of skirts, dresses and all things girly. I wouldn’t even wear jeans. Hated them with a passion. I wore tracksuit pants at home (god forbid) and everywhere else – the skirt. There was the occasional pair of boring black pants at work (horrid bellbottoms things that they were) but I pretty much swore off pants forever.

Jeans slowly crept back in, (I still remember buying the most perfect jeans at Just Jeans, Lee Riders that over the years haven’t fitted as well as they did when I bought them) and if it was one of the more freezing Melbourne days i’d drag out the black pants with tights underneath. Until now.

I’ve found the perfect pants. 7/8 in length. Available in four colours. Comfortable. Classy. Country Road.

The cropped seamed skinny pant is possibly the last pant I will ever own. I have them in black, and I’m quite keen on the grey. I’m also considering stockpiling the black – I wear them at least once a week – and I want to wear them forever. They work with heels or flats, tucked in tops or loose. They are perfect.

So now I’m wearing the pants. You should too.

Crop seamed skinny pany, Country Road $89.95. In black, deep grey, light cashew and deep safari.

My lovely friend Sandi, editor of Onya Magazine, also has a personal blog, a source of wonderful images and words and a lovely place to spend an afternoon.

In 2011, she resolved to read a book a week.

Her first book, Summer at Tiffany, was read and blogged and passed on to me to enjoy as much as she had.

Following is Sandi’s review of the book, first appearing on her blog, In The Thick Of It, January 2011.

I’ve always loved reading. And as a writer, reading is imperative. Reading as much as you can. Whenever you can. And a good mix of it too.

I strongly believe that if you want to write well, you need to read well. In fact, if you want to think well, you need to read well.

And so I plan to share, each week, the book that I have read, and a short review of what I thought, or felt, liked or didn’t like.

This week I read: Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart.
 

It was fun. Joyful. Innocent. A romp of a memoir about a couple of college pals from Iowa that head to New York City in the 1940s and get a Summer job at Tiffany’s – at a time when Tiffany only employed men.

Hart, now in her 80s, reflects upon the best Summer of her life – with her best friend by her side, they navigate their way through a new city – the opportunities, the challenges, the boys, the stores bursting with things they want most – cosmetics, hats, gloves and designer dresses – and life, in a post-war country.

It’s the kind of story, all entirely true might I add, that makes you want to switch eras. Hart’s charming account of her Summer of 1945 is romantic – it presents the city, the people, the time, Tiffany – through peachy pink coloured glasses. And the reason I suspect she presented such an account is because it was accurate – the New York she describes is hopeful and engrossing, the people gentle and friendly, and the time – tough, but utterly glorious, and wholly full of promise.

Eenie Meenie Miney Mo….

Tony Bianco, $169.95 (also in black and fudge)

Nine West $169 (also in black, tan and wine)

Wittner $169.95 (also in nude)

I love when I stumble across new blogs, websites and fun things online. Most of the time my gorgeous friend Miss F sends me all kinds of wonderful links to peruse and I often feel guilty that I can’t return the favour. Since work, Onya Aid and life seems to have gotten in the way recently, I am thrilled to finally be able to share with Miss F a few gems.

First, yesterdays divine Paris pic, from toi et moi. Seriously BEAUTIFUL. I’ve saved it as my work computer background, my iphone picture and put it on my inspiration wall at home. I want to take this exact picture when I go to Paris. I love this glam drawing too.

A woman after my own heart, Katherine runs a blog all about heels. HIGH HEELS! From tips and tricks about walking in heels and teaming them with jeans to what the names of shoes actually mean. And she also runs an online shoe store, Shoes by Bowtie. I think this girl and I were separated at birth. This one is called Madison and at just $65, I think I can even fit them into my Paris budget (and suitcase!)

And just for fun, this is the website of hairdresser to the stars David Mallett– an aussie boy made good in Paris. I’ve just emailed about getting an appointment in April to see if I can have the kind of movie makeover haircut made famous in Miss Congeniality, Roman Holiday and Clueless. Well, maybe not Clueless but you get the idea. Make me gorgeous. (I appreciate this haircut might cost me a downpayment on an apartment. But it can’t hurt to ask.)

Totally inspiring Paris pic from my new fave blog, toi et moi (you and me).

No, unfortunately, I’m not going to be 16. Or 26 for that matter. This birthday, in one week, I am officially ‘late 20’s’.

A whole new demographic I am not quite sure I am prepared to enter yet. It’s not quite 30, but I’m no longer young and carefree. My title at work has manager in it. I worry about mortgage payments and health insurance instead of how many drinks I can have on a Saturday night and still drive on my Ps Sunday morning. Those were the days.

And then there is the actual birthday. Remember primary school where you took cupcakes for everyone? Or your teenage years when you had a sleepover with twelve of your closest girlfriends? Then it was big nights out clubbing before quiet dinners started to take over. this year my family even has other commitments.

While I might be turning ‘late 20’s’, I have to say its been a good run. I can only remember one bad birthday – I had gastro for a week and spent my brithday in bed while my friends decorated the street with chalk drawings on the road and balloons up the lightposts. It was all I could do to walk to the front door to check the scene out, and if that’s my worst birthday, I reckon I’ve had it pretty good.

This year I’m not writing a list – I have everything I could possibly want. Friends and family I love. A job that challenges me and makes me strive to be my best; a magazine that I am honoured to write for and opportunities I never thought i would achieve. A wonderful place to live, a beautiful city to live in and the desire to live my life to its fullest.

My 27th year will take me to Paris. It will open new doors, expand my horizons and perhaps set a path for the following years. Perhaps it won’t. But that’s what I love about my life – the thrill of not really knowing what is just around the corner.

It’s been a while.  Since I blogged about fashion. Or food. Or 2011. Or even 2010.

Never fear though. I’m back. Maybe not with a vengeance, but I’m here and hoping that I will have a little more time to dedicate to my toddler (Style Emporium is nearly two!) from now on.

So, what’s happening in the world of food and fashion in Melbourne? Things are pretty quiet – it is January after all – but there are a few bits to share for the upcoming month. Here we go February!

First up, tomorrow is numero uno for our newest drive time team on the radio, Fifi and Jules. Taking over from Hamish and Andy four days a week and live out of Melbourne, Onya Aid DJ Byron Cooke will be spinning the tunes and no one wears leopard print like Fifi Box. She is also fabulously funny while Jules isn’t bad to look at – or hear – either. Catch them on Fox FM from 4pm Monday to Thursday.

The QV Summer Series kicks off this Friday February 4, with song, sun and sumptuous drinks to enhance your Friday nights and weekends for the rest of the season. This week it’s The Versus, with future performances by The Blackeyed Susans, Bobby Flynn and Red ink.

While the tennis is drawing to a close, the fashion events are just getting going! The L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival will launch on February 9 (happy birthday to me!) so make sure you get your tickets fast as they will sell out.

Fashion Torque continues to stir up the Fashion talk on Thursday nights at Globe Café in Prahran, from 6.30pm. Hosted by stylist to the stars Philip Boon and headlined by Jenny Bannister, the live talk show tackles the topics that get fashionista tights in a twist. Stay tuned for exciting news in the next few weeks and keep February 17 free. You have been warned.

Finally, February is the most fabulous month simply because it’s the month of my birth. I like to celebrate my birth month, rather than just one day (usually spent at work!) and it’s starting next Sunday Feb 6 at Honey Bar from 3pm. Yes, the live music was put on just for me. Catch you then!

12 hours ago, I left home to head to the Honey Bar for Onya Aid – the fundraiser I have been planning with my Onya Magazine friends and fellow Australians who just wanted to do something to help the flood relief efforts in Queensland and Victoria.

3 hours ago, we counted just over $4000 in cash that was raised through admission, lucky dips, silent auctions, a live auction and donations. And that figure is rising while we add up the final tally

Two weeks of planning finally came to fruition today. I was quietly nervous this morning – excited too – but that kind of nervous energy that makes you run on adrenaline and gives you the ability to think clearly and make decisions immediately that you might usually deliberate on for days.

From the moment Onya Magazine editor Sandi Sieger picked me up this morning and all through the setting up, the energy I felt in the room was immense. It’s a pretty Aussie thing to give up your public holiday to help out a mate in need and today we had plenty of people on hand to do their bit for our flood affected friends.

It’s hard to believe only two weeks ago, all was relatively well in Oz. But when the water came and the Queenslanders needed help (and Victoria not long after), we stepped up. While our $4k isn’t much compared to big businesses donating millions of dollars, ours represents the true spirit of the Australian way of life – helping a mate when he needs it. We’ve got your back.

A big thanks must go out to everyone who in any way helped us get the event off the ground today; who donated goods, services, time, knowledge or just came along to support the event – THANK YOU. I can’t believe what we were able to pull together so quickly and we couldn’t have done it without you.

I can’t think of any other way I would want to spend my Australia Day than doing something for our country and although it was a lot of work over the past two weeks (and I did say I was never doing it again!), the payoff – both monetary and the pride I feel – is amazing and I can honestly say I feel like I achieved something great. We achieved something great.

Stay tuned for the pics and the video (yep, we have a video!!), I am sure the footage of me blowing up balloons and struggling with the stairs (gym squats the night before a big event are clearly a no-no for the future) will be a hoot and show those who couldn’t make it the fun we had. Because it was fun.
Happy Australia Day peeps. I hope to be blogging a bit more now that Onya Aid is behind us, but for now it’s time for a well earned Good Night!

 “One of the rooms may be decorated with cornices, consoles and mouldings, while others may be more pop in style, or more rustic.” Christian Lacroix
 

So I’m booked. Signed, sealed – SO EXCITED. Paris in April, I am coming your way. And while budget restrictions mean I won’t be staying 5 star all the way, our final night in the city of lights will be at the Paris Hotel du Petit Moulin. A hotel designed by Christian Lacroix. CHRISTIAN LACROIX!!

In the words of a fashion fashionista, ‘I can hear the decadence calling!’ (Samantha, SATC2)
(PS I realise she was referring to the Middle East, and I am stopping over there for an hour on the way to Paris and the way back, so it kind of fits. Almost. Anyway, who cares. It’s Paris and it’s a hotel designed by Christian Lacroix!! I may never come home.)

http://www.paris-hotel-petitmoulin.com/index.html to check out the rest of the rooms. Ooh la la.