Spooky Season

 

Well, Spooky Season has come & gone for another year & this time, it was bigger than ever in Australia! For me, it was a time to read some schlocky books, watch some of my all-time favourite horror movies, listen to some creepy tunes (Monster Mash, anyone?) & head to a couple of events celebrating the occasion, which you can see from the pictures below...

All hyped up for the Nicholas Street Halloween Fair (the Saturday before All Hallows Eve) with my cousin & her two rambunctious munchkins wearing a funky specimen jar printed organza puff mini dress with embroidered trim from Dangerfield, a pair of tan vegan leather sandals with oversized buckles & rubber tread soles from Obsession Shoes & a circular black woven straw crossbody bag with tan leather strap from a little bohemian boutique (that used to be beside my hairdresser) to carry all the essentials while keeping my hands free. 

While everyone seemed to be having an amazing time, I was a little bit disappointed with the organization of the event as the placement of market stalls meant that the entire crowd was being funnelled through two tiny spaces (at one point, we couldn't even move as there were so many people & it was extremely claustrophobic) despite a significant amount of unused space elsewhere. Also, there were only minimal food trucks & there were only a few stations with Halloween themed activities for children - trick or treat doors, slime making, face masks, face painting - that each had lines of more than 45 mintues! Not sure if the organizers weren't expecting such a large turn out but perhaps next year needs to be tweaked a little to accomodate bigger crowd numbers. Regardless, we got into the "spirit" & did as many activities as we could before heading off to have dinner elsewhere.

Scroll down to see how it unfolded...

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"Mostly Ghostly" (if you know, you know) for dinner at the local Leagues Club in this gorgeous white linen maxi dress that I picked up from Swop (a secondhand clothing retailer) at West End, antique French late 1800s cream silk bow that I found at one of the stalls at the Collectorville Markets & retro-inspired black vegan leather strappy heels with buttons from Kitten D'Amour for a modicum of height & that Victorian spirit child vibe...

Delicious Meals & Spooky Decor

Marburg in the Morning

 

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Dress: Retro Metro Paddington upcycled vintage

Sandals: Pitillos via Obsession Shoes leather, elastic

Bag: Cellini via Laidley Shoez vinyl

Bangle Stack: Gift, vintage Mexican silver

Bangle: Gift, 20th Century Antiques & Collectibles vintage silver

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As many of my avid readers probably already know, I absolutely adore spending time in little townships browsing around antique stores & boutiques & this is especially true around Christmas time when I'm on the hunt for ecletic gifts for family & friends. On this occasion, I was visiting Marburg wearing a gorgeous upcycled woven cotton, ribbon & lace Mexican dress (cut really, really short) from Retro Metro Paddington, a pair of navy leather & elastic heeled sandals from a label called Pitillos that I picked up at Obsession Shoes, a navy vinyl handbag with beige ribbon accents from Cellini that I found recently at Laidley Shoez to carry all the essentials & some of my most beloved pieces of silver jewellery - a stack of vintage Mexican bangles that some dear friends brought back from overseas & a single vintage silver bangle from 20th Century Antiques & Collectibles that my brother gave me as birthday present a few years ago.

Scroll down to see more...

Beachy Keen

 

Finally sharing all the beautiful pictures from a recent mother/daughter staycation at Points North on the Gold Coast, where we took leisurely lunches & late dinners, got up at daybreak & walked for miles & miles along pristine sections of sand, dipped our toes in the water of no less than 5 different beaches & checked out all the little boutiques dotted along the main street for good measure! Scroll down to see how it all unfolded...

Admiring the view from our balcony in a pair of indigo denim shorts from Best & Less, a gorgeous white broderie cotton top with ruffles from my local TK Maxx store & some trusty brown vegan leather sandals by Blowfish Malibu that I picked up from Williams Shoes...

Lunch at one of our all-time favourites, George's Paragon...

I even had a refreshing Pimms cocktail!

Dancing in the sand at Coolangatta beach in my new swimming togs from Jantzen (slightly pictured) & beautiful striped cotton/linen blend dress from Kindred Boutique...

Waking up to rainy skies that quickly gave way to bright sunshine!

Long walks around Greenmount Hill wearing another trusty pair of jean shorts - this time in an acid wash - from Best & Less, a blue & white striped top with bows down the front from TK Maxx, a pair of white leather Birkenstock sandals, woven paper crossbody bag from Esteem's Boutique at The Strand & a woven sunhat from Before Sunset that I've had for at least 15 years now...

Delicious breakfast burger & hash brown (washed down with a cold chai latte) from Boardriders...

Rainbow Bay when the sun shines...

Can't resist a mother/daughter selfie!

Froggy's Beach

Walking up to Point Danger

Fresh & spicy Japanese seafood dinner from OSushi Restaurant... it's a must for us whenever we stay at the Gold Coast!

After dinner walks along North Kirra beach as the sun sets wearing a pair of indigo denim shorts (in a slightly more cropped style) from Target, a blue cotton top embroidered with cream sea creatures from TK Maxx, a pair of rubber thongs from Roxy & the same woven paper bag from Esteem's to carry all the essentials with me, including my faux tortoiseshell Witchery sunglasses...

Another day, another denim shorts look - this time, indigo denim shorts from Best & Less, blue & white striped cotton top with black paisley design from cult favourite Gorman, a pair of brown vegan leather sandals from Blowfish Malibu & the woven paper crossbody from Esteems' Boutique to round it all out...

Sweet treats from Griffith St Larder...

Long afternoon walks wearing acid wash denim shorts from Best & Less, white broderie cotton ruffled top from TK Maxx, white leather Birkenstock sandals, blue woven paper crossbody bag & woven sunhat from Before Sunset...

Dinner for two at George's Paragon...

Can't resist a cheeky ice cream for dessert from Baskin Robbins... no mint choc chip, unfortunately...

Night Lights

Those final morning feels on Greenmount Beach in (yet again) a pair of indigo denim shorts from Best & Less, the blue & white striped cotton top with puff sleeves & bows from TK Maxx, no shoes (just how I like it at the beach) & woven paper Esteem's Boutique crossbody bag...