What's in my bag

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Each week the girls over at Purseblog.com feature a different female designer's handbag and also ask them a series of questions. A woman's purse is very personal, because it carries their life and also represents a snippet of how one feels about fashion vs. function. I think most girls my age and older would agree that the show Sex and the City put fashion accessories on a different level; the education I've received is endless and has shaped my thought process and approach to what I purchase.  Shoes, purses, tights and other miscellaneous accessories are my personal drugs of choice; I can be any size and the aforementioned will always fit.

I've lifted some of the questions asked by Purseblog and created some of my own…

Name: Nicole

Occupation: Estimating Coordinator - some day I hope to see something of mine in the skyline.  How very Ted Mosby of me.

Your bag today is:Prada - my logo is on the side.

What made you choose this bag: I stumbled upon this purse during our first day in Milan; we were walking down Via Montenapoleone.  I just had to check out their wares and well, it was love at first sight.  The saleswoman, however, delivered some bad news when she returned from the stockroom; the bag I had chosen was the last one in the store and well that wasn't going to cut it.  I was assured it hadn't been out on the floor for very long - a few days at most.  If you're spending an insane amout of money on a bag, the floor model just won't do.  Eventually a few more were tracked down - another mission was about to be accomplished.

What's in your bag:

Sunglasses by D&G (I love the floral pattern), glasses by Banana Republic, Prada wallet and business card holder, iPod, Vera Bradley Zip ID, assorted gel pens (I'm a pen snob), Chapstick, 2 MAC lipsticks in Hot Gossip and Positively Dashing, NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in New Lover, hand lotion by Provence Sante, a brush, Dove deodorant, lip salve (a gift from my Italian personal shopper), my work key card and random paper work.

Date Night

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Fingers Crossed, Scott and I will be off to experience GingerBoy here in Melbourne's CBD this evening. I took the liberty of making reservations a few weeks ago upon hearing an insanely great review from my co-worker Matt; Asian fare and drinks is what Scott really needs after extinguishing work fires all day today. In order to prettify myself, I wandered off to the newly opened Topshop inside of South Yarra's Jam Factory and ended up hauling off with some of their makeup and a fun polka dot dress.  I planned to save the dress for work later this week, but I accidentally rubbed some of the lipstick I swatched onto a really cute dress I purchased from the Gap.  C'est la vie.

I completely forgot Topshop carried makeup; I've read a few reviews, but really haven't tried it out myself.  Going in blind, I grabbed several items to play around with.  The girls who manage the counter were nice enough to let me snap some photos of the kiosks nestled just before TopMan.  For the holidays, they're pushing two different eye-quads dubbed "Smoke & Mirrors" - I immediately thought of Gotye when I saw the theme; I've been a bit obsessed with his music as of late.

After looking through all they have to offer (brushes, wipes, nail polish, bronzer, high lighter, etc.) I handed over a couple of shillings and ran back home to paint on my date night look.

First the haul:

Second, the look:

And one more!

Last, what I wore:

Face:

Eyes:

Lips:

I almost forgot to share the photos I took earlier today!  I tried to be stealthy and then I mustered up enough strength to just ask if I could do so.  A while back I took a picture of MAC's Wonder Woman display and I was asked to delete the images from my phone; it's only natural for me to be fearful.


The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount spent on four items:

  • $53.00 AUS

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

  • 10 out of 10 bags; each item averaged out to be $13.25 and I was really impressed with their on trend collection

Likelihood to purchase from Topshop again:

  • I'll wait for the hype to die down and head back after the holiday season

I'm really loving my Barbie pink lips!  Have you had your Topshop fix yet?

My New Year's Eve outfit

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Last year Scott and I started a tradition of visiting The Waiting Room inside of Crown Casino's main lobby area.  People watching was on the menu for the evening; that's our thing when we go out to get tipsy and there's no shortage of interesting people roaming about on New Year's eve.  Lobbies are transient - most people sought refuge from the hot summer day; at it's hottest Melbourne's temperature hit 34 degrees celsius (93 F) and that was around 5:30 in the evening. Because last New Year's eve was even hotter, I knew I needed to dress accordingly.  Sale shopping convened at the local Gap this past Friday and fortunately I walked away with an outfit for $68 AUS. I don't want to even begin to rant about all of the other things I saw on sale, which included items I had purchased the day the Gap had officially opened.

Question for the Gap: when will you start honoring price adjustments here in Australia?

And without further ado, here's the outfit I wore last night.

 

I paired this steal with espadrilles (mine are cream coloured) my mom had given me for my birthday - funnily enough, they came from the US Gap.  A belt from SABA in tan finished the look.  I know this look might appear to be on the casual side, but I am still getting acclimated to hot weather in December.

Yesterday I went for a makeup lesson with Mecca Maxima - Cindy worked her magic while I tried to take tons of mental notes about all of her tips and tricks.  Here's a sneak peek…

 

Stay tuned for my full review!

My hair by Simone - an updo review

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Last Thursday I arrived at Forecast Hairdressing with several images in hand for Simone to pick from; I didn't care which direction we went in, all I was told: "Simone is an updo guru."  I laid the pictures out before her for a bit of inspiration and off she went!  In less than 45-minutes, my hair was sprayed, curled, teased and pinned to perfection. These are the looks I liked:

And this is the final result - 5 looks, mashed up:

Simone is a hair goddess!  I was really happy with how well my hair came out - business in the front, party in the back, wait?! All joking aside, many of my co-workers claimed they didn't recognize me; more often than not, you'll find me with my hair down at work.  Because so much hairspray was used, I was able to sleep on it and roll out of bed, albeit six hours later and head off to work with my hair still intact.

The Bagful breakdown:

Cost of Simone's handiwork @ Forecast Hairdressing:

  • $87.00

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

  • 8 out of 10 bags; a little expensive, but I'd do it again.  Simone works quickly and efficiently; plus, she truly transformed my mousy-brown hair!

Likelihood to re-visit:

  • I already booked another appointment to get my hair trimmed just after Christmas