Dare to dress up on a White Night (thanks to Target).

This is a sponsored post. Target provided me with vouchers to go shopping and will pay me for this post. Opinions are my own.

On Saturday night, I excitedly headed to the city for dinner with Sandra and then on to the White Night Festival. The White Night Festival was an overnight art festival - bringing music, dance art, and light shows to the city. I was looking forward to the writers camp at the Wheeler Centre, and seeing the lights, but I was not prepared for the large crowds. Oh the crowds. More about that later.

We decided on a cheap progressive dinner (it made spending $25 for three courses and a drink all the more fancy!). We started with rice paper rolls, and then I overcame my fear of dumplings at a little place in China Town. We finished dinner with a piece of cake each from a Greek patisserie. Delicious. I love dining with a food blogger. We never run out of things to talk about, and we never have to ask each other permission to take photos of our food.

Before dinner and taking outfit photos, we stumbled across some street art and live hip hop in Tattersall's Lane. I saw this one just off that lane, in Stevenson Lane. Here we are now, entertain us.

And after dinner, we set off to White Night, first stop was The Wheeler Centre where we saw one of my literary heroes, Sean M Whelan, perform some poetry. He was brilliant - alliterative, evocative and funny. A beautiful talent. Sandra and I met up with Karen, Carli and Carli's sister Liza too - lovely to see these ladies again. My initial plan was to stay at the Centre and write, but then I was enticed by talk of the light and art around the city. Only, there were crowds. I've never seen so many people in the city of Melbourne. It was a slow pedestrian crawl, rubber necking to look at the pretty things. Carli, Liza, Sandra and I walked down Swanston Street, taking it all in. We saw a catwalk in a lane way, live music, street artists and many many people. It could have been more accessible and participatory had it not been for the thick crowds, but that was also the magic of it. Sam McHugh tweeted "#whitenightmelb: Earth Hour's nemesis". I laughed - so many lights used and power cables over the roads.

Here are some of my favourite sights of the night.

The State Library of Victoria.

A shadow play at City Square - this was fun - seeing the children interacting with the shadow characters. There was an audio story being told too.

Projections on the windows of St Paul's Catherdral - Sandra made a great point - funny that they'd projected AFL, where fans are fanatics to the point of religious, on a religious building.

The Yarra River, westward. There were light fountains looking east, but the crowd was too thick to look through comfortably.

And the jewel of the night (that I managed to walk to anyway - my face was getting sore - and yes, a sore face does affect my desire to walk!): Flinders Street Station. There was a rock concert on the stage too.

Isn't it beautiful?

White Night was pretty special. I loved how pretty Melbourne looked, and how many people celebrated this great city. I am excited about next year's. Were you there too?

So, about what I wore. I love Target, it's my go-to store for workwear (I like their dresses, pencil skirts and short length trousers), their pieces fit me well amd often I can avoid trying them on due to their consistency in sizing, and I also like that I have so many pieces that make people say "huh?! that's not from Target!". Like my coral lace dress and black pleather jacket. Target has a really great selection of women's clothing - I mostly buy from the City Dressing, Hot Options and Limited Editions ranges. I have also recently picked up some Target Essentials basic tops and bonds undies which I'm really happy with.

Target sent me shopping earlier in the week. The brief they gave me was dare to dress up. I had great visions of me moseying through the store, taking my time choosing the perfect outfit. But instead I found myself there one hour before closing time, doing a power shop because I thought I'd cram as much into my day by scheduling a phone meeting after work, cooking a meal and remembering just in time to get money out for my cleaner (note: first world problems hey?!).

I took a brisk walk through my local Target (one of two - I have a large store which I shopped at last week, and an Urban store within five minutes drive of my house - I like Urban for the up-to-the-minute range of women's fashions) and headed straight for the dresses. Though I couldn't find any that I liked. They seemed very conservative for my tastes. I rifled through the clearance racks (so many of them, such low prices) - but nothing piqued my interest. I then looked at Hot Options, and to be honest, the colours didn't grab me. I was a little disappointed. I have loved the brights and florals of spring/summer, and now the tones are more muted - lots of bottle green and burgundy - reminded me of a bag I sewed in year eight textiles class.

So then I located my old faithful, the Limited Editions section. I can always count on this range to find something that I like. I have a lot of work clothes from Limited Editions. I thought I would use my voucher to buy something that I wouldn't ordinarily buy - black and trousers. And luckily, there were some beautiful tailored trousers and interesting luxe tops to fit the brief.

Here's what I chose:

A slinky jersey Limited Editions top with pleather trim ($49.95) and black jacquard print straight leg Limited Editions pants ($59.95). I like that theese pieces can be dressed up or down - I can wear them both with denim, and I can wear the top with a skirt or even layered over a dress with leggings. The top is actually short sleeved (you can't quite see it because of my love of layering) and is a really flattering fit. I need to take the hem of the pants up, but overall they fit very well and make my legs look long and slim.

I wore some silver bangles and a bracelet I made myself (navy sunstone) and a Red Phoenix Emporium necklace (the long white one, gifted), plus another Target necklace (the heart) that I picked up for $5.40 after that initial shopping trip. I love the heart - especially its woven fluro wire. Received lots of compliments on it. I wore the same shoes that I had for my year 10 formal. Back in 1997!! Yes, they still fit and are quite comfortable. See how the pants have a pretty floral black on black print?

Later on, in the cool of the aircon, I put on my shiny shiny jacket - a buy from Target in September 2012.

That was me in a beanbag at the Wheeler Centre. Of course I chose the purple one. I am not sitting very graciously. Beanbags are heaps of fun, but very hard to get out of! Sandra made me laugh: "It took seven years of yoga to get my ageing hips out of that beanbag #downwarddogfacing", she tweeted! Oh the awkwardness!

Thanks for the lovely night amd for taking outfit photos Sandra, and thanks to Target for having me as a Target Blogger!

Please note: I am a Target Blogging Ambassador, and this is the first in a series of sponsored posts.

Saturday bargains

I didn't do much today. My day comprised breakfasting with Jen, resting, sorting washing, researching for an upcoming interview, napping and a spot of shopping (only briefly as my legs can't carry me far).

I found a few bargains in Target. Temt tempted me too, but I thought I'd go quality over quantity.

The Stella McCartney for Target range is on its way out. I wasn't fussed by much of the range compared to last time. It was all a bit dramatic, and not practical for me.

I did buy this bangle though, which I wanted when the range first went on sale in October 2010. I couldn't justify the original price though. $30 for something similar to the stock at Diva. Today I paid $5. The below photo is actually Sydney Shop Girl's. My photo didn't turn out so well. Mine, like SSG's, was the last Love bangle in my local Target.

I prefer the Limited Editions range at Target to most of the Designers for Target (but I loved the Yeojin Bae range so much I bought most of the dresses when they went on sale). A lot of my workwear is from Target's Limited Editions. So it made me really happy to see a lot of it on sale today! I bought this dress for a steal at $30 (reduced from $80!).

I also bought these bikini bottoms. I will maybe - but most likely not - wear them with my (2009 Target) tankini top during camp. These too were cheap - $10 or something.

I had a burger at Grill'd (Melbourne's BEST burgers) and fell in love with the Jamie magazine. It was provided by Grill'd and I loved it so much I needed to buy my own. It's a really nice magazine with doable recipes and some backstories behind the recipes. I also bought my fave magazine, Shop til You Drop.

I could read them tonight, but instead I'll do some writing while enjoying a glass of moscato and this - a plate of strawberries salmon and cheese.

 Happy Saturday night, everyone!

Power shopping with Sydney Shop Girl

I met the wonderful Sydney Shop Girl (SSG) today! She was in Melbourne and we spent four hours together. I can confirm she is every bit as nice and beautiful in person as she is on her blog.

We crammed a lot in. But unfortunately we didn't get a photo of us together :(

First stop after I picked her up from her hotel was Fraus Crepery and Chocolat in North Melbourne. I take all visitors there.

SSG and I ordered the obligatory hot chocolates. She had tiramisu and I had the classic (I never deviate).

There was major food envy on my part when we ordered different brunches. While I had a delicious crepe called Salmon and Goat (a crepe topped with salmon and eggs and filled with avocado and goats cheese) SSG had an oozy, melty three cheese crepe with a side salad of roquette, muscatels and walnuts. Both were delicious but I seriously wanted to eat all of hers!

Salmon and goat crepe

My hot choc and SSG's three cheese crepe with salad

We chatted. It was so wonderful to have got on so well after 'meeting' via blogging earlier this year. She is very wise. And stylish.

The next stop was two boutique stores on Victoria Street - Kids in Berlin and Call Me Madam. I love these stores because they stock local designer jewellery and clothing which is high quality and relatively unique. SSG loved these stores for the same reason - she found some beautiful necklaces there that were so different to chain store buys.

There were two things I saw and fell in love with, and had to buy. As I once said to my Mum in a store, 'my life will change when I buy these things'. I bought a Dick and Dora brooch set - catching butterflies - and a Lavallier porcelain bangle. I love the floral detail on the bangle and have since seen a brooch in the same print which I may just have to buy!

Dick and Dora brooch set. It's adorable!

Lavallier bangle, worn on my left arm.
For its true beauty (and mine too!) you need to see it in real life.

After shopping up a weather warning in Victoria Street, we headed to a mall where we power shopped for one hour. I found a nightie to wear as a dress come the warmer weather (fingers crossed I'm brave enough to do so!) and a necklace at Sussan, and a pair of foldable ballet flats and a clutch bag from Target to take to a ball I'm going to in two weeks time.

The nightie-dress. I loved the print!

My clutch - stylish AND big enough to hold everything I need!
Who would have thought it's from Target?!

Ballet flats. Can I just wear these all night at the ball!?!

Last stop was Wild Jam in Flemington which is the sister store of Call Me Madam. I love buying cards and gifts at Wild Jam. SSG stocked up on chunky necklaces and I bought two cards.

Cards - I recently bought a friend the rainbow girl card,
and when I gave it to her, she was wearing the same colours as rainbow girl!

The retail therapy and time with SSG was definitely what I needed - I feel 200% happier than yesterday. SSG imparted some wisdom. Retail therapy puts things in perspective.

Sydney Shop Girl certainly lived up to her moniker - she has endurance to shop - and I am very happy she agrees that a Melbourne shopping experience exceeds a Sydney one! It was so much fun meeting her.

I had myself a merry little Christmas

It's hard to believe Christmas has been and gone already.

My family and I had a great time. Lots of food, lots of wine, lots of fun.

The big box under the tree was an indoor barbeque. Yay! Since I moved to Melbourne and into an upstairs flat, I have missed having a barbeque. So my parents brought me a stovetop barbeque. So exciting! I also received some money, an apron, some DVDs, a bag and a travel voucher. I am very thankful to everyone who gave me a gift.

Yesterday I went to the Boxing Day sales. I had worked in retail for four years and did four Boxing Days. I always swore never to shop on Boxing Day. Even if it was only in Albury (a much smaller scale than Melbourne). But last year I did it. I queued up for ages to try things on and came away with a Cue jacket for half price. So this year, I braved it again, with two friends. They said that being with me shopping was like having a daughter, as they've both got sons. That made my day! I was disappointed in Myer - their queues were long, and stock was a bit like a jumble sale. And NOT DISCOUNTED ENOUGH!! I did manage to pick up a few $10 singlets from Portmans, a tshirt from Temt and then a beautiful lilac ruffly knee length dress by Sunny Girl and a linen shift dress from Target (both under $40). I had a ball, but was very tired.

And today Mum and I sat around doing NOTHING but watch Rush and Masterchef on DVD and then cooked dinner. It was lovely.

It's Mum's birthday tomorrow. Dad is away on holidays, and we will be having some girls over to celebrate and eat lunch. I can't wait til she opens the present I got her.

Alright bed now. It's great being on holidays! Waiting for a phone call is completing frustrating.... aghhh.