Post Holiday Blues

I've been neglecting this blog which is 1 part I-have-been-on-holidays and 2 parts life-has-changed-faster-than-I-have-been-able-to-keep-up. So now I'm using this winter hiberanation period to really focus on me and for once being in some semblance of stable life.

Anyway. That is all not very exciting. What is exciting is that I recently returned from holiday! My second trip to the US this year, my 4th in 4 years, but sadly likely to be my last for some time now. I think I need to give the North American continent a break from me for a while!

I'll try and post about my holiday highlights if I get around to it, but for now, here are some of my photo faves :)

 Perfect white sand and pristine blue seas in Barbados. I probably should have noted above that I actually spent half my time in the Caribbean, not just the US. And it was, like my last Caribbean trip, breathtaking. And blissful. And just what I needed!

Trunk Bay in St Johns, USVI. Consistently rated amongst the top 25 beaches in the world, and I wouldn't disagree!

A rare shot you'll see with me in it. I don't generally like posting photos of myself on this blog, but this is me hanging on a boat in St Lucia.

 The famous Alamo, in San Antonio, Texas. American History worthy.

Texas State Capital in Austin, Texas. I loved the architecture. I loved the patriotic scattering of the state Star on everything and anything. And I love this shot.

Laguna Beach, Orange County, CA. Teenage dream come true. I used to be obsessed with MTV's Laguna Beach, and am still a huge fan of LC. Long live MTV.

I realise all my photos look like postcard pictures I've stolen from the internet. I can assure you, everywhere was just that photographically amazing that it didn't take much to snap a postcard worthy shot, though I do like to claim some photographic skill ;) These were all shot on my beloved travel camera the NEX6 with kit zoom lens (I didn't even touch the second Sigma lens I took with me!).

And before you ask, I bought one item of clothing my whole trip! Yes, one! After enough visits to the US in as many years, I can definitely say I am probably one of the rare visitors who can abstain from shopping :)  

Christmas Sephora Haul

Around Thanksgiving time Sephora had some great discounts - 10 and 15% off deals for those in the higher level of their Beauty Insider loyalty scheme which I have somehow spent enough to qualify for! Anyway, I made the most of having a US mailing address and got my paws on a huge haul. It meant that I saved myself 15% on items I would've purchased when I visited the US during Christmas anyway. The downside was that I wasn't able to enjoy picking them all out at the Sephora store but that was probably a good way to save myself some money!

Oh and when you order online you get a tonne of samples! That whole bottom row is samples in fact :)

So these were the things I needed: Stila concealer and Sephora brand liquid eyeliner which has become my daily staple and at <$10 is amazing quality for a liquid eyeliner.

And here were the extra things I bought because, well, I felt silly wasting a perfectly good 15% off discount voucher!

Urban Decay Basics Palette - this is awesomely sized, being smaller than my iPhone 5! The colours are a matte which is great for me, but a little too...'dusty' for my liking. The fallout is a little craptastic as well which I knew already from the many reviews I read on MUA but nevermind, it was cheap at under $30.

I love me some good NARS - and when I saw my beloved orgasm/laguna duo comes in a mini travel size I couldn't help myself. I mean, when you travel it is just perfectly sized! Plus I love the travel size items at Sephora purely because I never use a full bottle anyway so the travel size is the perfect volume for me. This is their famous tinted moisturiser I thought I would try out.

Beauty Blenders are all the craze so why not try it for myself? So far I like it, but sponges just waste product in my opinion. They soak up so much that is just unnecessary. So in that sense I prefer my Real Techniques brushes, but I do like the even complexion you get from using this. And the solid cleanser I thought I'd try for all my make up brushes to motivate me to clean them more often!

And finally, I chucked in this Deborah Lippmann nailpolish gift pack because it was cute and I thought it was about time I try her nailpolishes. I've known about her for years but never bit the bullet to buy her polishes. Well can I say I am suitably impressed and wish I had bought her creme polishes earlier! They're so opaque after even just one coat and they're quite impressive pop colours. This is She Bop and glitter Happy Birthday which I've been using this week and they're quite fun and cutesy. If a little Barbie. But there is nothing wrong with that!

Charleston, South Carolina

Over the Christmas break I found myself in Charleston, South Carolina for a wedding. Charleston is a quintessentially cute, Southern little town with such a lovely colonial town vibe. It's recently been appearing on the 'new cool cities to visit' lists regularly, and I've since heard it is the second most popular place to get married in the US behind only Vegas (for obvious reasons).

The wedding I went to was seriously breathtaking. The best wedding I've ever been to, but I knew that would happen because the bride is the uber bride who has been planning this wedding since the day I met her (long before she even was engaged).

Here are some pics I wanted to share with you of the beautiful place that is Charleston!

I ate at the popular and hipster restaurant Husk that has all the Southern specialties such as this - pumpkin pie! We also had pigs ears lettuce wraps which were AMAZING!

 

This is an unfortunately badly shot photo of the building in which Husk is in - I was not my usual self this trip and really didn't take many photos, and didn't make an effort in most cases. I was just all about having a good time and soaking it all in!

Sunday brunch is, as always, a huge thing in the US, but in a religious southern town like Charleston, it is Halls Chophouse for 'Sunday Gospel Brunch'. I wish I had bothered to take a photo of the live, grand piano playing, soul crooner who sat in the corner entertaining us for the day. And for a bit of Southern hospitality, this was my complimentary glass of bubbly, after the restaurant owners started chatting to us!

And now for the wedding - at a beautiful plantation overlooking the river. Despite being in the middle of winter, it was a sunny warm Winters day which was absolutely amazing.

I do slightly regret having such a good time that I didn't stop to properly take photos of the sunset. But this is seriously how amazing it is - the following photo was taken with no filter on an iPhone. Is it not spectacular?

Southern food at the wedding - mac & cheese and chicken & waffles!

Beautiful beautiful florals - all painstakingly done by an amazing florist.

And for a sense of the main street - this was the high end shopping strip where you could literally get any designer item you wanted!

I love me a good holiday, and this was definitely one!

NYC: Rockefeller Centre

Despite all the times I've been to NYC and the US, I never had the chance previously to properly visit Rockefeller Centre and since this time my visit coincided with the cooler months, what better time was there to ice-skate! It was a beautiful, cool but fresh night and being on the ice didn't feel at all cold which is probably just as it should be.

I hadn't been ice skating in almost a decade and turns out I've really lost my skills! The rink was quite busy as it was the Easter weekend so it took a while to make my way round slowly and carefully but after a short while I think I got the hang of it again. There were some amazingly talented skaters there though - must be lovely to grow up with true Winters and being able to skate on iced over lakes!

After ice skating we decided to head for a nighttime Top Of The Rock visit. Again I'd never had the chance to visit TOTR and at night it is truly magnificent! And now for a tonne of pics for those playing along at home :)

It happened to be full moon as well and I quite like this slightly blurred photo of the amazingly bright sun behind a few streaky clouds.

There's a really cool light room display when you reach the top too. It changes colours with human movement!

Don't you just love the sight of a beautiful city at night? 

NYC: Jimmy Choo

So I was in NYC just in time for the Jimmy Choo sample sale and picked up some amazing bargains. To be honest I'm not usually a big fan of Choo bags and while he has some amazing shoes I tend to stick to my other favourite brands a little more because of the variety. But anyway, seeing as my NYC trip coincided with the first sale in two years I just had to get myself down there. The first day was friends + family first then opened to the public in the afternoon but with short afternoon opening times and a 100+ person line, we had other things to spend our time doing. The next day there was no line and while the stock was a little picked over we still managed to get our hands on some cute things!

So this iPad case is totally over the top but the candy pink colour is kind of cute and I know this will make a cute gift :)

This is by far my favourite purchase - a pale buttery yellow/orange Eel clutch with gold hardware. I loved it so much I bought another in a slightly limey yellow (see below)!

 I'm in a bit of a rush so didn't get the chance to rotate this image but this is a 'seconds' item so was super cheap! One of the mirrored box clutches from the recent bag collection! You can see the mirroring is slightly flawed but from far away it is hardly noticeable and it is the only 'damage' to the bag which has a perfect non tarnished chain strap.

And onto the shoes! Both pairs are classic 'Choo' styles and while I definitely don't need any more shoes I don't have anything like them (as you may be able to tell I generally tend to buy blacks and closed toe shoes) so they will be a welcome addition to the shoe-drobe.

Who else loves a bargain?

NYC: Sleep No More

A quick post to update a little tid-bit from my holiday - I just spent some time in one of the best cities in the world, New York City. I love it there, and when I go there I get to spend time with a really awesome friend who lives there which makes it even better.

Anyway, during my visit I went to see Sleep No More, a live performance theatre interpretation of Macbeth which is a 'choose your own adventure' style performance. It's in a warehouse in Chelsea and there's 100s of rooms and you basically get to follow the actors around as they depict a very postmodern interpretation.

You aren't allowed photos in there, and it's a very full-on thought provoking presentation but here are some cool pics!

You wear masks and there are places where you can eat the candy, interact with the actors and get trinkets from them. The cards represent the order in which you get to 'enter' the presentation space and from there the world is your oyster so you get to go/see/do what you want!

It's definitely a unique experience which isn't for everyone, but if you're into something different I highly recommend it if you're ever in NYC! Also, I hear it was in an episode of Gossip Girl (though I'm so behind I haven't seen it yet!)

Holiday dreaming-no-more!

So in just a few weeks I'll be visiting San Francisco and New York City to visit some really good friends and I am beyond excited! I have been to both places before but there are just so many things to do and see that I"ll always keep myself occupied. Plus I'm looking forward to some rest after a few months of hard work (it's the first time I'll have off since getting here).

Anyway, I've been watching Million Dollar Listing New York which is all about fabulous NYC real estate and it's helping to get me more excited!

There are some amazing properties there (anyone fancy a $15 million loft overlooking Central Park? yes, please!) but this one made me think quintessential New Yorker! This lady is a socialite who has clothing and shoes everywhere! Over 800 pairs of designer shoes, Chanel boucle jackets she's never worn and bags galore! Look how packed it is =o

And it is fingerprint security operated...

But then here is an amazing Soho loft... a girl can dream!

What are your favourite places to see, eat at, visit in San Fran and NYC? :)

DC Monuments & Museums - Part I

Washington DC is full of so many amazing sights, museums and monuments and I've been fortunate enough to visit a lot of them while here in the US. Of course I have taken lots of photos along the way and with the Cherry Blossoms blooming at the moment I thought I would post some of my favourite sites around the place.

DC has the most amazing museums thanks to the Smithsonian Institute which runs a whole host of different museums. The Smithsonian castle is one of their visitor centres and it has a beautiful garden. If I had more time, I would just sit there all day reading a book or on my ipad. Amazing! The blooms there are so beautiful too.

Smithsonian castle in the background

Washington Monument with the faint sign of a jet trail behind. Amazing, right?

The next few are from WWII Memorial which has a beautiful grandness with all the wreaths and repeated motifs.

And probably one of the most famous - the Lincoln Memorial. It is amazing how large it is and even from quite far away you can see it as a foreboding presence on the skyline. All that marble, all that architectural perfection!

More photos to come!