inspiration for anti-procrastination

A close friend in the year above once told me that university was like the HSC every 6 months. I was scared, yes... and right now I would be studying for my upcoming end of semester exams... however, I go to UTS and study Journalism. This means, instead of living the HSC every 6 months, I am loving life, never have to memorise anything, go to uni in the city and spend uni with amazing journalicious people. Why? Because we have no exams.

However this does not mean that I am not feeling the stress. I have 6 assignments due in the next 2 weeks. The only difference between us UTSers and other students is that we don't have to memorise any of our stuff. But, because most of my school friends do have exams, I am taken back to the days of the HSC when we needed to learn to integrate sin, cos and tan; analyse shakespeare's work and write a creative about someone who doesn't belong. And I feel pity for those who have exams.

I'm not here to gloat. I'm here to give you some inspiration for anti-procrastination!

The most effective form of motivation for me during exam time was new stationary. I went to the extent of ordering special Japanese highlighters from New York... but boy, did I highlight. I highlighted everything. I was the highlighting queen. And when it came to go over my notes... everything was nicely colour coded and highlighted in awesome Japanese highlighters. These were no ordinary highlighters, by the way. They were special colours. Not fluro, more a matte, texta finish. But they were so smooth and highlighted like nothing else. They made my exams fun. So, buy new highlighters!

Another strategy I adopted thanks to my mother, was getting my nails manicured. One can feel depressed during exams, as you practically ground yourself, not going out or doing anything fun. Getting your nails done (if you're a girl, that is) will not only make you feel better about yourself and your hands, but will also get you writing. I found that when I wrote things on paper I would stare at my manicured nails, and it made me happy. Plus, it's a well deserved break, only taking about a half-hour or so to do. Can I please take the time out to recommend getting bio-sculpture nails done instead of acrylics. They are so much better in every single way. Click here to go to my previous post about them and read about why I think they are the best thing to ever happen.

Lastly, consider yourself lucky. It's winter time and there's nothing worse than trying to study when the sun is bright 'n shining outside. Rain means concentration. So get rugged up, turn the heater on and watch the rain whilst you study.

On a slightly different note, I am very happy because a handyman fixed the gas heater in the TV room, meaning my mum won't take my heater anymore, meaning I can have it 24/7 so I can get these assignments done!

Over and out.

my wishlist

There are so many things I want to buy. Please tell me if you think these things are worth their money. I will obviously be needing to save up but... ah. I thought I may as well share my wishlist with anyone who cares!

Acapulco Bucket Bag from Nasty Gal at ~$55 AUD

I am loving the long sling bag look at the moment, and these colours are gorgeous.

Long Bar Two Finger Ring from Nasty Gal at ~$12 AUD

I've been searching for something like this for ages, but haven't been able to find it in any physical shop. Does this mean I should pay $12 and buy it online? It would probably be about the same price in store...

Flamingo Chiffon Tee from Nasty Gal at ~$30 AUD

I have been wanting this since, like, April. Probably not the best for winter, but an investment for Summer, Autumn and Spring. I mean I could wear it under a coat or something for winter, but the chiffon isn't going to be the best...

Jeffrey Campbell Black Lita Platform Boot from Nasty Gal at ~$154 AUD

Need I justify? I want these so bad.

Black Galaxy Leggings from Black Milk at ~$67 AUD

I never ever wear jeans, only leggings and jeggings. So why not get these totally awesome galaxy ones? They look amazing.

So there's what I want specifically. I'm also looking for a black maxi skirt but I still don't know which one exactly. I'd like to spend less than $30 and have it high waisted and not too figure hugging, maybe a bit looser. Any ideas?

I'm also thinking of investing in an SLR camera but still don't know if I need one or which one to get. It probably won't be for another year until I manage to save up for this one.

Bargain!

I love bargains! 

I saw this amazing iPhone case at Market City a week or so ago. $9. Being a uni student, this was far too expensive for me. Then a couple of days later I saw the SAME one in a shop in Newtown for $26.95. Umm... are you crazy? So being the typical cheapo I am, I checked ebay... Same thing for $3.29 and free postage! WIN! 

Reasons why I love this:

1. My favourite colour is pink

2. It looks like a real casette 

3. Sophia Phan at Moulin Frock said that it was very me.

4. It's pink.

5. And I love pink.

Reasons why I don't like this

1. The iphone charge connector is covered at the bottom... so annoying

2. It's flimsy

BUT IT WAS WORTH IT! $3.29? I can't go wrong! :)

Newtown adventures

Went to Newtown yesterday with a few friends. It was a lovely sunny day and I felt silly wearing a scarf and barret (stupid unpredictable Sydney weather!) 

There were so many lovely shops there to see. We literally wondered around for about 5 or 6 hours just going and looking at things. I was on a mission to find a copy of Delta Goodrem's 2001 rare single "I Don't Care" but had no luck. Mainly because we didn't come across any second hand CD shops. But there were many lovely music stores with RECORDS! Oh how I love records. And I didn't stop telling everyone how I have stick pictures of Delta's album covers on some random records we have lying at home and stuck them on my pink feature wall. I suppose I shall put a picture of this up sometime soon. Anyway, the CD stores were epic. There is nothing I love more than being surrounded by music (even if it is old rock or new indie stuff that I know nothing about - it still makes me feel like a muso, which I am, in my own way).

Many little stationary book stores popped up, and we never got bored of going through all their trinkets and picture books. Had a long flick through Mary-Kate and Ashley's book and I now know how to tell the two twins apart. I was on the lookout for a stand for my stud earrings, and ended up having to convince a store manager to let me buy one of the ones they used for their own display. Pretty stoked.

$9.95 AU from a random shop in Newtown. This has brought to my attention the great need I have for new earrings.

I was also on a mission to find myself a nice new ring. I didn't really know what I had in mind specifically, but found a pretty one at Dangerfield. My friend bought the same one in black instead of silver. Although I was so keen for some original, vintage ring from some random, vintage, obscure store in Newtown... I didn't really find anything that I actually liked. Mind you, I have never found anything really cool and vintage at Vinnies either, despite so many people telling me it is amazing. Just not lucky.

$10 AU from Dangerfield. Me (left) with the silver version and Sophia (right) with the black version.

Nearly forgot to mention we also went to Magnation. Pretty much magazine heaven, it's got all the mags you'd ever want to read from all different countries. There were so many versions of Cosmo and Vogue I didn't know which one to pick up, until I realised that one was British, one was French, one was American and the other Australian. So I collected a few and went upstairs where they had these cute little bubble domes. We literally sat down for about half an hour just reading all these magazines. Loved it.

We finished the evening off with a lovely Thai meal at "Thai Garn" near a friend's house. Satay chicken, spring rolls, pad thai and pad see yew were delicious. It was a lovely day/night! I recommend Newtown to everybody. Delicious gelato and Asian food!

Us nearing the end of our night.

recent purchases

I am a happy person!

This is a comfortable loose knit jumper - bought from Stelly at $45 AU. It comes in this deep red, light blue, light cream and a mustard-y. Very pleased!

One of those fake chanel bags. Bought from (I think) Bag Scene in Westfield for $49.95 AU. YAY!

Black platform wedges. I ended up going with the ones from Glue because they didn't have lace or an annoying line in the front of the toe. Plus my boyfriend liked these ones better. $79.95 AU but I knew the guy who worked there so I got an 8% discount... win.

As soon as I saw this I fell in love. It's a fake YSL ring from Sportsgirl. Only $16.95 AU. 

Colourful scarf from Dotti, $9.95 AU.

Leggings from Sportsgirl. I love the leather patch on the inside of the leg and seam detail on the thigh part. It's different to the usual black legging or jegging. $79.95 AU.

And that is all! Tell me what you think. :)

make up tutorial: a natural look

I was one of those kids whose mother never let them wear make up. Ever. Sure, you think, that's a normal occurrence. But the irony here is that my mother AND grandmother were both professional beauty therapists. They both wear lots of make up and have a lot of it. So naturally... without even realising... I started to wear more and more make up. I started at a good age, just little bits of eye liner here and there when I was about 15. Mum didn't really mind. It was only at the beginning of this year where I began going a bit too overboard. I became obsessed with eyeshadow and wore masses of it to uni and whenever I was going out. And mum got all RAH because she could tell I was caking it on a bit with the eye make up. So I have been experimenting recently and have found a "natural" look that doesn't require too much make up and still looks nice. It is inspired by Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert on the TV show The Vampire Diaries as well as from various make up tutorials I have watched on YouTube.

This is how my eyes look without anything on. OMG shocking!

So, I got this eyeshadow from some Jennifer Lopez set my friend got me from my birthday. It's a very very light cream.

Apply this colour on the inner-bottom of your eye, and smooth it on the inner edge, and up to the inner top of your eye. This will give a little bit of natural glamour. Does that exist? I don't know. But it looks good. I got this idea from Serena Van Der Woodsen's make up on Gossip Girl ages ago. So now my eyes look like this:

Then I got an eyeshadow that was very similar to my skin tone. It's a bronzey-yellowy-gold from a free Estee Lauder pack my mum got and didn't want. WIN!

This just gives a good base coat and smooths out the tone of the skin. It's important to blend it with the light cream in the inner top of your lid. So now my eyes look like this.

Then I got this dark purple eyeshadow (which pretty much acts as a dark grey) that I got from Sportsgirl ages ago. 

Apply this on the outer "V" of your eye. That means from the corner of your lid, upwards, then create a V and go inwards at the crease of your lid. You can put it as far inwards along the crease as you like, depending on what look you want. Make sure you blend this well because if it's not blended it will look fake. This is probably the most important part by the way. Now my eyes look like this.

Then I got a black eye shadow also from Sportsgirl. I don't have a picture but it's the same as the purple one above. Apply a very thin line above your lid. You can actually make it as thick as you want but I try and keep it thin. Now my eyes look like this.

Now add some pencil eye-liner on the bottom! (I use waterproof because it doesn't smudge and lasts longer).

... And some mascara! (I also use waterproof).

... And you're done!

Any questions, let me know, I will be happy to answer them.

real music

First of all, I just want to clarify that this blog isn't a fashion blog and to be honest I don't really know what kind of blog it is or not yet. For now I am just going to post what is on my mind at particular moments in time. And today, music is on my mind. Why? Because my favourite singer of ALL TIME, Delta Goodrem, performed a new song on US Dancing with the Stars! FOR ALL OF THOSE WHO KNOW ME AND ARE ABOUT TO CLOSE THE WINDOW AND NOT CONTINUE READING - WAIT! I STOP TALKING ABOUT DELTA SOON. VERY SOON.

I was lucky enough to wake up right in time for the live stream. The song she performed was "I'm Not Ready" - a duet with Michael Bolton. I don't know who Michael Bolton is, but I found this hilarious video of some collaboration he did with The Lonely Island. You can watch it here. It made me laugh a lot. But anyway - the song "I'm Not Ready" was written by Delta and songwriter Vince Pizzinga whom she has collaborated with on her past successful albums. From what I can tell from the lyrics, it's about her break up with Brian McFadden. I could go on forever analysing the lyrics but I'm not going to cause that isn't the point of my post today.

Delta Goodrem and Michael Bolton

So it seems Delta has a habit of waiting, like, 10 years in between albums. (I know I exaggerated but if you're a big fan of Delta you'll understand me!) Artists like Rihanna will release a new album at least every year - but the excuse I give on behalf of Delta is that she's a real artist, she writes all her own songs and it will pay off in the end. And it usually does. However this downtime where there is no Delta music leaves me lost. What I have been doing to compensate is listen to mainstream pop music, as anyone does. However this poses a problem for my music taste. Because since recently, there is only one style of music heard on the radio. Doof doof. Party music. Rnb dance. Whatever you want to call it. It's the only thing that exists. You might be lucky to hear some pop rock once in a while, but I am going to disregard that as I don't like pop rock THAT much. (It's okay). Artists like Rihanna and Lady Gaga can get away with releasing slow ballads because the majority of their albums consist of party music. But now-a-days, mainstream music = party music.

So, I listen to party music. I like it. I love RnB and Gaga and Rihanna and Chris Brown and David Guetta and all of that. I still do. But I had forgotten what it was like to listen to music like Delta's. Until I heard Adele. Her second album titled "21" was released and is full of lovely songs. I haven't listened to them all properly yet but my favourite so far is definitely "Set Fire to the Rain." Adele reminded me what it was like to listen to music that I love. This only occurred a week or so ago, nicely coinciding with Delta's performance. And boy, I can't wait for the new album.

DELTA AND ADELE EVEN MET! (At US Dancing with the Stars).

Friends of mind have pointed out numerous times that today's mainstream music is not as original as we think. And that it all sounds the same. Lady Gaga copies Grace Jones. Rihanna's song SOS was ripped off from this song. Jennifer Lopez's song On The Floor was ripped off from this song. Kanye West's Touch the Sky was ripped off from this song. There are oh so many more examples.

It makes me sad because the other day I admitted that Delta is no longer mainstream. Singles from her first couple of albums were heard on the radio everywhere. But I would be surprised if her new songs were played everywhere, all the time. Sure they'll get exposure. But not as much as a dance/RnB artist would.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I hope the music industry changes soon. Older music was varied but now it's all so similar. There's only so much ripping off artists can do before it's too much. There's nowhere to go, unless we go backwards.

Delta Goodrem and myself at her Christmas Carols concert on Christmas Eve (my birthday) 2009.