Happy Friday

This weekend is all about catching up, drinking coffee, eating dinner and hopefully catching some of the delightfully warm rays that are shining on Brisbane this weekend.

Here's to the weekend! xo

Shoesday: Races

We are now knee deep in Spring racing season here in Australia, with the moment of climax very soon upon us. Yes, Melbourne Cup: the race that stops a nation, and sends the retail and millinery industry into overdrive as women feverishly search for the hat that will bring them Fashions on the Field glory - or at least win them a bottle of Moet in the hotly contested best dressed competition at their workplace Melbourne Cup lunch.

It is an iconic day in Australia's fashion calendar, and as such, should be treated with the deepest respect. 

Below we have a prime example of increasingly common race-day attire that is not respectful to either the Melbourne Cup or to shoes in general.

Way to destroy a perfectly lovely pair of shoes.

The shoe cap. I've seen them in action, and you are kidding yourself if you think these things are invisible due to their clear plastic properties. Like the "invisible bar strap" - also made of clear plastic yet somehow the only part of an outfit the eye is drawn to when worn - there is nothing discrete or classy about these little puppies. 

When attending a day at the races, simply resign yourself to the fact that your stiletto is going to sink into the grass somewhat (to be honest, great quality grass - often found at excellent race tracks - won't see you sinking that much). 

So aim for classic, elegant heels and embrace the great outdoors.

Happy Friday: Forgiveness

Always thought provoking, but here are some great words from one of my favourite thinkers, Seth Godin.

Forgive yourself for not being the richest, the thinnest, the tallest, the one with the best hair. Forgive yourself for not being the most successful, the cutest or the one with the fastest time. Forgive yourself for not winning every round.

Forgive yourself for being afraid.

But don't let yourself off the hook, never forgive yourself, for not caring or not trying.

Have a beautiful weekend xo

Summer Wonder

One person who is decidedly not suffering the ill-effects of exhaustion is the beautiful Gemma Ward. At her peak, Gemma Ward was one of the world's most sought-after models before disappearing into relative anonymity following the death of her close friend, Heath Ledger.

Gemma Ward has signalled her return to modelling with a typically ethereal starring role in Country Road's Summer 2014/15 campaign, which also marks 40 years of the brand.

Marking her first major campaign in years, and the first since the birth of her daughter Naia almost a year ago, Ward explains the appeal of the campaign, reminiscent of her own childhood endless summers: "We'd always stay in the caravan park and we'd just spend all day at the beach, swimming and playing in the waves or going fishing with my uncle out in his dinghy. It's the iconic Australian holiday and it's always been so much a part of my youth and what is so close to my heart."

Country Road Managing Director Sophie Holt echoed these sentiments, saying "We wanted to use an iconic Australian beauty who has grown up on Australian beaches and really embodies our relaxed, natural way of life."

Not long after wrapping the Country Road film, Ward appeared on the Milanese runways opening for Prada and causing palpitations amongst the fashion set.

So much so, that Vogue Australia asked if everyone could still breathe, and did anyone need CPR. Not Gemma Ward by the looks of it.

The Slow Burn (Out)

It began slowly at first - I started skipping my regular (and beloved) Barre classes. Soon enough, I had stopped even bothering to look at the timetable, knowing there was no point even attempting to go to my usual Wednesday morning class, as finishing a class at 7:30am would have me in the office hopelessly late (to my deranged brain) at 8:30. The workaholic in me would have done a solid hour of work by 8:30! (Yes, I take an hour to get ready - no attempt at speeding things up seems to work, as it usually results in forgotten lunch, keys or laptop and a miserable trudge back home to collect forgotten items). 

Then it gained momentum. Definitely no lunch breaks. Ever. Just a quick lunch hastily made with little concern for nutritional benefits as I dashed out the door, even more hastily devoured at my desk as I punched out work like a performing monkey. Daylight saving exacerbated things: with sunset now not until 7:30pm, a 6pm departure seemed outrageous. 8:30pm it was. The entire team on annual leave and a more punishing than unusual travel and work schedule pushed things into the stratosphere. Work dinners at 9pm for jet-lagged visitors from the Northern Hemisphere with a midnight bedtime, followed up with 5am starts to travel vast distances alone fed the beast. An overflowing inbox sent my stress levels into overdrive, and I simply couldn't rest until everything was responded to and neatly filed into anally retentive Outlook folders (hey, whatever helps you sleep at night!)

Some people are anorexic. Other people are exercise-a-holics. And yet others find comfort in the bottom of a vodka bottle. Me? I have a tendency to workaholism. Neglecting all else for the benefit of a faceless corporation and its cerebral, somewhere-out-there shareholders. No extra pay, no additional pats on the back, no gold stars. Nothing drives this behaviour but me and a need to perform at my best (an ideal that is impossible to attain, given no one is perfect and you can always do better). The only thing that can stop this behaviour is something dramatic, generally involving my health. I know full well that my body doesn't really like being stressed and it certainly doesn't respond well to over tiredness.

I honestly don't know why I do it to myself. Perhaps it's a combination of a Type A personality and the loneliness of being away from home. After all, as Oscar Wilde once said: "Work is the refuge of people with nothing better to do".

Whatever it was, over the last few months I've been running on adrenalin - and not in the exhilerating, skydiving kind of way. 

     

Missed periods, constant fatigue, fainting on planes, seized up shoulder blades and sudden, debilitating cold sweats have told me to slow down. Now it's just figuring out how to tame this Type-A Beast, as I try to balance work and study and my burning desire to stay in touch with my friends over the next 8 weeks. 

I feel like I need to establish a set of rules for myself, but I'm not sure where to start, and what even is realistic. Can I start Barre again? I think so. The tug of needing to be at work at 7:30am will just have to wait - even if it is only one morning per week. 

Green smoothies? I still despair at not having one of those crazy $1000 blenders, but I am assured you don't need one... But I don't like spinach! 

 

What else? I think I need advice on this, because setting boundaries and reining in my natural enthusiasm to do a good job is not a strong suit. What strategies do you employ to (a) boost your immunity, and (b) keep your work/life balance balanced?

Send me your tips, because I think I need them.