Online Buys of Late

No matter how busy I am during any given week, I will inevitably find the time to shop. It's a curse!

Firstly, I bought some items from Brands Exclusive thanks to Klara from Click your Heels. I won a $50 voucher from her giveaway. I ended up spending $62 (it wouldn't let me go through with my initial order of $48 - I had to spend exactly $50 or more to redeem the voucher) so got all of the following for the bargain price of $12:

 Iko peep toe heel - claret. Do you know how hard it is to find maroon heels? I have a Diane Von Furstenberg dress that looks stunning with maroon heels. I wanted to wear it to a wedding, and I looked EVERYWHERE for maroon heels without success. I ended up settling on a pair I found online (sent from the UK), which I didn't really like and which didn't end up fitting me very well. Fingers crossed that these fit, and will replace my current pair of maroon heels.

 Iko stitched feature dress - cotton/silk

Iko barbed wire peep toe heels with heart cut out. These are so funky and interesting, I couldn't resist!

My other buy was from Asos. They are having daily sales at the moment where selected items are reduced for 24 hours. I snapped up these Asos Mindy leather loafers with contrast sole for a bargain $30:

I wish I had shares in Asos (I'm not sure they're even publicly listed, but anyway) - they must be making a killing in the Australian market, and good on them!

An Enjoyable Week

It has been an enjoyable week so far. Work has not been dragging along, because I actually have enough work to do (it's a miracle!).

Last night we went and saw some of Canberra's iconic buildings lit up for Enlighten, Canberra's annual festival. These architectural projections feature work by local artists. I think last year was the first year they did it, and I have to say that this year is even better. Here are some of my favourites:

 Renaissance art projections on the National Gallery

 A projection on the National Library

 This was a favourite - Political Cartoons on Old Parliament House. I definitely have to go and see their exhibition of 2011's best political cartoons this year!

Also Old Parliament house - this one looked better up close than far away. The detail was incredible!

Also exciting this week is that I received the prize I won from a blog competition on A Treasured Past. Tam has very similar tastes to me, loving everything vintage and beholding a story of times past. This is the gorgeous prize pack (including a handmade brooch - my fav item, and a handmade necklace):

Tam sells similar items at her Etsy store, and also resells some of her thrifted buys.

I'll leave you all with a yummy lunch photo, and the news that I will soon be starting a diet/exercise regime. This is very much out of necessity, as fewer and fewer of my clothes are fitting.

Bargain Acquisitions 101 and a Lovely Prize

Today is shaping up to be a good day. It started off badly because I woke up with a splitting headache which I feared would turn into a migraine. I have only had a migraine once in my life, and like this headache, it was due to going off the pill (ie, a hormonal thing). I lay there for an hour, then dragged myself out of bed and downed 2 Panedine with some milk. It has taken about 3 hours of resting, but the headache is just a dull ache now instead of the full blown migraine I was afraid was coming on. So, I am home from work, Bub is at daycare and the day is mine. I *could* go into work now but that option is not particularly appealing. This morning Bub was having a meltdown, and Daddy dealt with it. I was snuggled in my warm bed (albeit in pain and wishing I wasn't awake).

Things are going well on the 'acquiring lovely/beautiful/useful things' front. First of all, I won the giveaway in Sydney Shop Girl's blog! The parcel arrived yesterday, and it's a lovely skincare set from La Clinica (with a cute Kikki K shopping list thrown in for good measure - this will come in handy):

Thank you so much SSG, I can't wait to trial the products!!! :-)

Some Ebay purchases also arrived this morning, and I'm thrilled with them. This gorgeous pearl and dove necklace was $3.50 and these brand new, leather Diana Ferrari loafers were $23:

Bargain acquisitions 100%. Now the reason I probably woke with the headache (apart from going off the pill), is that I was up until 2am+ last night. The reason? Online shopping, duh. I spent about $80 AUD on the Dorothy Perkins website, and acquired the following:

And for good measure, I threw a few extra items into my shopping basket (included in the $80AUD):

For those who are unfamiliar with Dorothy Perkins, it's a UK high street chain and it tends to be pretty good quality. At the moment, they have a large sale section and then an additional 20% off the marked prices is taken off at checkout. They ship to Australia at a flat rate of 10.50 pounds (approx $16). Run, don't walk fellow bargain chasers!

You will also notice that my blog layout has undergone some changes-- ahhh to have the day off work ;-)