Outfit #127 - Happy Birthday Shakespeare

Today is, apparently, Shakespeare's birthday.  At least, I am told he was both born and died on St George's Day - which is today.  You learn all sorts of things with trivia.  As it turns out, I know not much about St George or Shakespeare.  I think I need to rectify the situation.

Dress: Kinki Gerlinki.  Top: Ambra.  Leggings: ? Shoes: Target.  Earrings: The Silver Shop (I think).  Scarf: Atmosphere (gift).  Jacket: Hot Options (from Jeannie).

I was trying hard to find a Shakespearean outfit.  This was the best I could do.  My logic is that the dress is a bit like an old tapestry sort of thing.  My alternative involved a very short skirt.  Due to workplace dress requirements, the jacket was only actually included as a 'just-in-case' for the evening's trivia at the cathedral.  My team didn't come last - in fact we were winning for the first half of the evening.  And I'm pretty sure we had more fun than anyone else!

The scarf was only worn to school.  And then for photos.  But I do love it.

Melbourne Trip #4 - Tuesday and Wednesday

Yesterday's post only got me to the end of lunch on Tuesday.  After lunch, I had a bit of downtime while Jeannie taught a really cute little student.  Then, because of my little encounter on the bike, I decided to change before we went out again.

Tuesday Outfit #2: Stockings from Target, top from Dotti, dress is Don't Ask Amanda - bought at an op shop on my last trip, boots Mina Martini from Jeannie.

We headed into town again, this time on the train, and went to the Rialto tower.  This was something I remember from my high school trip way back when, but Jeannie had never been to the top.  I'm not sure, but I suspect it's been swankified since my school trip.  I can't imagine a whole lot of high school girls, on tour, behaving properly in the bar at the top. 

We were the only customers when we arrived (great service!) so had a pick of views. 

We opted for the Albert Park Lake side, and so had drinks overlooking the city.  It was a pretty great view.

We then headed over to Captains of Industry (in Somerset Place) for some trivia.  Yes, I'm slightly addicted to trivia, so I would have said yes to this anyway, but this particular event was a fundraiser for a group doing the Oxfam Trailwalk shortly.  At first it seemed that everyone there was formerly from Brisbane and either visiting Melbourne like me, or had moved there in the last few years.  As it turned out, there were plenty more people who didn't fit into this category, so those people had a distinct advantage in the 'sport' round.  Another fabulously fun evening, and we came not last, or even second last, but respectably in the middle.

Wednesday.  Outfit: green Kinki Gerlinki dress, black Ambra top, black leggings, black flats from Target, Hot Options jacket from Jeannie.  Wednesday was the consumables day.  This was a good outfit choice.  My hair was in a world of its own though, and highly annoying.

First, we walked down to Bread and Jam for Frances, via Bradstreet Books.  Bradstreet Books is a secondhand store by Glenferrie station, and has 2 levels of shelves and nooks and more shelves.  So many books!  I did not buy anything.

Bread and Jam for Frances is a bakery/cafe attached to Readings bookstore.  Really good service.  Really good coffee.  So we had 2 each.  And we shared a pastry.  And then... Then we went to the bookstore side of things.  Having spent many dollars in my life on not great books, I developed a list of authors I was allowed to buy - everyone else had to be borrowed from the library.  I bought one book from an allowed author.  And then I bought 2 new releases.  No regrets!  One I read yesterday, and the other I started today, and my brain is thanking me for it.
Home again, then I was forced to drink a super greens drink.  I know it's good for me... But yerk. 

Back into the city on the train, and by this stage we were both hungry.  We went to Degraves Lane again, this time to TOFWD.  I have no idea what the initials mean, but I felt healthy just looking at the food, and chose a lentil burger.  We then undid all that good nutrition by heading over to Koko Black.  It's still amazing.  I even had a Chocolat experience!  Having decided from the menu what I would buy to take home, I then forgot one of them - the chocolatier correctly suggested an option. 

On the way to our next engagement (free comedy), we just happened to pass Quick Brown Fox.  A free blowdry later, I also bought a scarf and a pair of earrings.  Then we were ready for some free comedy.  At first, I thought "No wonder this one is free" but then it got unbelievably funny.  Not clever funny, not crass or anything else, just people from the audience being asked to act and have props made out of balloons.  I laughed for at least 30 minutes.

We went to yet another bookstore, then were at a loss.  Instead of buying a bottle of water and wandering aimlessly until dinner, we went to the Cookie rooftop bar.  What a find!  Many flights of stairs (how to earn your treats), and you're practically on top of Melbourne.  There was no great vantage point for photos, but seeing dusk gathering over the city was fabulous. 

Dinner at Miss Chu was mostly vegetables.  Definitely an inner-city eating establishment, with house rules (including 'no chopsticks fights'!) listed at the top of the order forms.  Quick ordering process, very little room, vegetarian and vegan options, and plenty of serviettes for all the effects of the chilli.  My greatest delight here though was when I realised what the deal was with the light fittings - inverted rice bowls!

Then - the highlight of the trip.  We went to Arj Barker in the Melbourne Town Hall.  Going to a comedy festival event had been on my to-do list for years and years and years.  I was not disappointed.  Again, I laughed for most of an hour (there were some serious points), and I was relieved not to be the only one laughing outrageously.  I even bought a sticker pack with quotes from the show, and got a sneaky photo thanks to Jeannie.

I had a relatively early flight on Thursday, so nothing exciting happened that day.  And I wore jeans and many layers of tops, not exciting.  I'm very pleased to have achieved some of my to-do list - and I've added at least 2 items to the list for next time.  And aside from everything detailed here, I met many new people and didn't freak out.

Melbourne Trip #3, Part 1

I know - it seems like the whole New Thing thing is involving many trips to the same city.  But what am I to do, when my bestie has moved???  With more than a weekend free, and a spare room in which to crash, I went from Tuesday to Friday.  Including checked luggage.

Tuesday: I was fairly dopey from lack of sleep (more than a week of heat-induced insomnia), but before I had a little snooze Jeannie asked which of these clothes I'd like.  After my little nap we went for a quick run around the neighbourhood (really nice area, near the river) and then we (Jeannie, her man Matt, and me) headed to Prahran.  Dinner at Yellow Bird, which was doing Mexican Tuesdays, and then we headed to Revolver for their Tuesday Night Trivia.  So. Much. Fun.  We came last... which was a bonus, as we won the dud prize - a much-coveted dream catcher. 

We admired the groovy, retro outfitting (sofas reminiscent of beach holidays in my childhood - ie, furniture from a couple of decades prior...) and fabulous light shades. 

Dessert cocktails - I had an affogato which included a shot of Kahlua as well as the requisite ice cream and coffee and extra coffee beans.  Total decadence.  Trivia was free, and friendly, and did I mention buckets of fun?  Starts 7:30pm every Tuesday so if you're in Melbourne on a Tuesday, do it.

Wednesday: The goal was to have breakfast then head into ACMI for a showing of Laurence Anyways.  Slight stove malfunction meant slightly higher stress levels, but Jeannie and I still made it in time.  Except Everguide has misled us and it wasn't showing until the afternoon.  So we went to the screen images exhibition.  Some very cool things (I won't put in any spoilers) - my favourite bit though was the snapshot of Australian accents.  A heap of clips from shows like Roy & HG, The Comedy Company, Summer Heights High, The Castle, and more.  Gold.

As I had a whole suitcase and 23kg, we then went shopping.  Bridge Rd, Richmond.  Matt met us part-way through, and we had lunch, more shopping, coffee... I didn't actually buy all that much, but it was really fun trying on clothes quite different from what Brisbane has on offer.  And finding all the stores which sell online with free shipping...

I then made my way (on my own!) to South Yarra, to meet a friend I know from Brisbane.  It's been a few years since I've seen her and it was lovely to catch up over a cup of tea.  Carolyn had just been sent a fabulous swimming cap:

Jeannie and Matt were off to the tennis Wednesday evening, so I wandered around South Yarra for a bit after seeing Carolyn, then caught a train to Richmond, wandered along Swan St in search of something tempting for dinner, then headed back home.  I was still in the 'whoa - daylight savings a long way from the equator' wonder - this photo was taken about 7:20 (slightly enhanced thanks to Instagram, but the sky was really that blue).

Although I was rather tired by this stage, I couldn't resist an evening walk.  It was 8:20 when I left and still quite light, and only just dark when I returned at about 9.

I actually took heaps of photos of plants, too, but I'll spare you the 'ooh that's not a tropical flower' pictures.  Apart from seeing my bestie, though, the greatest bit of this trip was actually sleeping.  Bliss.

Outfit #82 - Iron Monkeys

Outfit details:

Pants: Portmans.  Top: Ambra bamboo.  Cardigan: Portmans (op shop).  Shoes: Pinet.  Earrings: from Jeannie. [For trivia, below - jeans from Jeanswest; shoes from Pulp]

Tonight was trivia.  My team name: Iron Monkeys.  Last time, we were the Ironmongers, and came in close second.  Tonight, Ironmongers was misheard by a few as Iron Monkeys... it stuck... we came in last.  But we were the only team with no baby boomers (or anyone older) and that obviously made quite a difference.  As usual, a whole lot of fun was had, as well as yummy finger food.  Ooh - and I discovered a new relative!

And I don't know if it's just that I'm tired and not wearing glasses, or if the top photos are actually a tiny bit blurry... You get the idea anyway.

These are not shoes for walking.

Can you spot the green theme for today?  I like green. 

Place of Stones

Today, I finally visited my closest coffee place.  It's really a cafe/bistro type thing, but I just had coffee - this time.  It used to be that when explaining where I lived, I'd say just up the hill from this particular pizza place.  But then it became not that pizza place.  Place of Stones has been there a little while now, and my brother and his cohort often visit (so much so that the staff know them), but this was my first time.

The first thing I noticed was the well-stocked wall of shelves.  All sorts of books, plus some of those little boxes of cards.  Once we'd ordered, I asked Pat if he'd played the Ultimate Sports Trivia Quiz.  He hadn't, so my brother pulled down the box and we tried the quiz.  These boys are really into their sports so I was amazed (we all were really) when I got the first few answers, and more throughout the quiz.  Possibly due to my age...

Coffees here are good, and when the hot chocolate arrived I almost wished I'd ordered that instead.  Thankfully my cappuccino had a healthy dose of chocolate on top.

Future visits will have to include breakfast and dessert (maybe not in the one go) - the specials board lists Chocolate Crumble as one of the desserts and I'm so tempted.

Outfit #36 - Trivia

Outfit details:
Skirt: Gina Tricot (op shop).  Top: Dotti.  Stockings: who knows?! Boots: Sandler.  Jumper: Jeanswest.  Black jacket: Dotti.  Denim jacket: Hot Options (from Jeannie).  Earrings: from Jeannie.

So many photos today!  This is the leaving-in-the-morning look.  The weather was not that cold, so no scarf.

It was still coolish by the time I had a moment to take earring and stocking photos, though.  I really like these earrings - after all, they combine the winning colours of red and silver - but they don't often find themselves in my outfits.  Interesting.

Stockings.  Pretty cool.  Comments galore - from 10-yr-old girls, other teachers, brother.  And they were just the thing to bring this outfit from screaming "It's Winter so I'm Dressing in Dark Colours!!!" to "Tartan Stockings - I hear red is now considered a neutral - discuss".

Why 'Trivia'?  Tonight was a trivia night... I was a bit excited, as you can see.  This was the outfit for most of the day.  This was not the expression for most of the day - 3 students didn't show, I'd forgotten the music for the next concert, I tried to do some reports.  Ugh.  So in between reports, I googled a couple of things I suspected might be included in tonight's trivia.  The Olympics, Eurovision...

Some trivia - the 1912 Olympics were held in Stockholm, Sweden.  1514 people died in the sinking of the Titanic.  Eurovision is being held in Baku, Azerbaijan, this year (kicking off in a matter of hours) - and is open to all members of the European Broadcasting Commission (that wasn't part of tonight, but it was one of the facts I discovered today).  This is one of my Thinking poses:

And I just realised I'm wearing the wrong colour tomorrow.  Oh dear.