The Search Continues for the Perfect Antique Kitchenette in WA!

I am still in search of the perfect vintage kitchenette. My taste has changed and I am now looking for something in raw wood (as opposed to painted which would require stripping) and with leadlight windows. The wood used back in those days is stunning, it's a pity to cover it in paint. My taste has certainly 'matured' since this post made in April of this year!

The problem is that in WA, these babies are rare and they are priced accordingly. I'll need to cough up $1000+ for an already restored version, and people ask for $200+ for a completely unrestored piece in need of new fittings and hours upon hours of work! This is completely different to NSW, QLD, VIC and SA, where there are plenty available for as low as $100, in already acceptable condition.

Here are a selection of beauties from eBay:

The one above sold for $101 (yes, *cries* so cheap) in the ACT!

This one is in WA, and the seller is asking for $600 which is not bad for WA prices.

 This one has been passed in at auction a few times now, because no one has bid the starting price of $200!

Hopefully one will pop up within my budget (max $300) in WA soon, otherwise I'll just have to keep looking at what other states are offering and swooning over those!

Unusual Purchases

I spend hours on my mobile phone, chatting to anyone who'll listen (okay, maybe I'm not that bad). This got me worrying about radiation. I know there isn't a proven link between phone radiation and cancer (last time I heard anyway), but I'm not taking any chances. It doesn't help that my dear mother is paranoid about cellphone radiation, and has implanted some of this fear into me.

If you're like me, and use your mobile at home instead of a landline, you might want to invest in one of these:

I just did. They're only $7-8 delivered on eBay, sent from Hong Kong. I'll let you know whether it works and whether I actually use it when it arrives. I know I'll be teased about this one by my friends, but I think it's kind of funky (and purple is my colour!).

My next purchase relates to boot storage. It became apparent that I needed something to stuff into my boots to keep them upright in my wardrobe. Someone on the Vogue Forums suggested chopping up a pool noodle, which I thought was a fabulous idea. The only problem is, it's winter so I would really struggle to find a pool noodle. Not to mention it's a bulky, annoying thing to carry around. Someone else said they stuff their boots with newspaper. I would end up with my bedroom looking like a hobo cave if I did that (with scattered newspaper everywhere).

The solution? I bought these inflatable "legs" from Ebay:

Ingenious, no?

Finally, I impulsively bought this cool ice mould today. I don't have any real need for it, but it made me smile and I hope to make others smile when I use it:

Titanic Ice Mould

It will hopefully look like this:

Have you bought anything "out there" lately?

I have gone eBay crazy!

I just finished listing 30 items on eBay (the maximum amount of free listings per month). It was a big effort, so I hope it pays off.

This widget thing should cycle through my items:

 

Otherwise, CLICK HERE  to see everything I have for sale :-)

A Present for Me (And a Deal for You)

I have been doing more ebay shopping, and the latest is *another* pair of leather loafers. Unfortunately the purple pair I bought before are a bit big, but these fit perfectly:

My Dorothy Perkins order also arrived, and I'm thrilled with it! I only wish I had bought more... I can't really justify another order just yet, unless they further reduce sale items maybe ;-)

The start to this week has been uneventful. I am flat out trying to get tasks finished at work before my trip to Perth this weekend. I don't want to come back to icky work, I'd prefer to have it all done and dusted. In addition, tomorrow is my birthday and since I don't want to work particularly hard on my birthday, I have had incentive to be diligent. Tomorrow, the *birthday* post is likely to be all about food- one of my favourite things is eating (junk food) and tomorrow I shall be indulging to my heart's content.

We had a lovely weekend, which has energised me. Bub had a playdate and they were so cute together - here they are picking weeds and grass to create a pile of, well, weeds and grass, which they called a "house":

Add to this cuteness a delicious brunch enjoyed in the sun at Dee's Cafe in Yarralumla, and we have all the elements to create a warm fuzzy feeling:

You got it, they know how to poach their eggs, all gooey and delicious. Nothing annoys me more than hard boiled "poached" eggs.

Because I have absolutely no trouble self indulging, I bought my self an early birthday present today. It's the gift that keeps on giving (and no, I'm not talking about the flu). It's a super cheap subscription to Vogue magazine - $39 for 12 months. That's $3.25 per magazine, which sure beats the shelf price of $8.50 an issue. If you ever pay that again, you could have gotten 2.4615 magazines for the price of that one with this deal!

Nothing like a treating yourself but being thrifty at the same time... Get Yours Here if you desire :-)

I have been spending *a lot* of money on group buy sites lately, reviews and information to come in a separate post!

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 ;-)

Online shopping

I'm not sure online shopping is a good thing for me. I love it way too much. It's bad for my health because I sit at my computer during lunchtime and shop instead of going for a walk and getting fresh air.  It's not great for my finances. That's not going to stop me online shopping though, no way. It gives me too much joy. I shop online because I can!

Recent purchases include:

Pearl and dove necklace, $3.50 delivered from Ebay:

 T2 mini mesh tea strainer. Using the free shipping coupon 'Chaddy', this only cost $5.50 delivered:

2 x 100% merino wool tunics from Glassons online, $40 NZD for both delivered (came to $32.60 AUD including credit card currency exchange fee):

Basque blouse, $5 incl postage from Ebay. Not a massive fan of this but it's a cheap work top for when I can't be bothered ironing:

Cute remote control holder pouch for my sofa, so I don’t keep loosing the remotes, $4 delivered from Ebay. In blue of course:

And finally, a new GPS system, after I left mine in the dashboard of my car which was parked in Perth’s hot summer sun for 5 months when I went overseas and it consequently died. This is exactly the same model that I had before, cheap and cheerful and does the job a lot better than a cheap one bought here, $55 incl postage from Ebay (sent from Hong kong/China).

In other fashion news, I have 2 items to add to my wishlist. The first is a pair of shoes that my cousin was wearing in a photo she posted on facebook. These shoes are amazing- the brand is J Renee and she bought them in San Francisco. Does anyone know anything about this brand? How comfy do they look:

And I've decided I really like this Olga Berg bag, it's so cute... pity Olga Berg doesn't do leather, I'm not a fan of faux. It's $70 at the moment, I might consider it if it's further discounted down the track: