Bathroom Murals

I've been thinking lately that I'd like to paint a huge mural on my bathroom wall. 

I came across the above image recently, care of the Scathingly Brilliant blog. The girl pictured used a vintage paint-by-numbers that she found on the internet and blew it up to a larger version so she could copy it on her wall. Actually a lot of people have done this, as a quick Google search showed me -

Source: Making it Lovely

So I found an image I like - 

But then I considered doing something different. 

What about copying an old bookcover from my childhood favourites, such as The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe? Or The Magic Faraway Tree?

Can you imagine these on a long bathroom wall?

There are so many possibilities, I can't decide! But I will. Soon. I need a project, I don't have enough uni work to keep me busy right now haha. 

Can't wait to get painting and show you all the end result!

xZ

Cleaners kick ass. Give them a high five for me!

I'd like to call on a moment of respect for all the hardworking cleaners out there. 

My newfound appreciation stems from the experience I've had working as a cleaner in the past couple of months. My parents recently bought a cleaning business and I've had to kiss goodbye a fair few days in order to help them clean out entire houses, and to help maintain a contract with a huge three-part caravan park, cleaning three sets of bathrooms and 3-7 park homes everyday.

Today we worked on the latter, and let me tell you, I am knackered. 

Bleaching and scrubbing toilets, wiping filthy mirrors and sinks, and getting stubborn marks off walls are just a few examples of what these jobs involve.

The worst part is the unmentionable states of some of the toilets I come across - and not only in the men's toilets, interestingly enough. 

I have to admit, back before this business happened, I believed a cleaner was a lazy person who chose not to study and instead ended up scrubbing toilets for a living. I thought it was easy, simple, like a job at Maccas. Wrong. The jobs that we have to do actually require a whole lot of dedication. You can zone out a little and let your mind rest, but your body is constantly mopping, scrubbing, and sweeping, and your muscles soon cry out for a break! But you have to be time-efficient. In the caravan park, for example, each of the toilet blocks are scheduled at a specific time in which no one is allowed to shower, so you can't be late, or else people get grumpy. 

The other week... and I'm going to be real pleasant here... Tom and I were approached by the park owner who told us that there had been an outbreak of gastro in one of the park areas. He requested that we use a strong eucalyptus disinfectant and go over absolutely EVERYTHING, taking an extra two hours on top of the usual time the job takes. Needless to say, I barely let myself breathe in while dealing with those toilets.

I've helped work on public holidays - including Australia Day, and Easter - to save Mum having to pay other workers $50 an hour. While people are barbequing by day, I'm in there wiping away their greasy marks. When people spend their nights vomiting out all the celebratory alcohol.... yeah enough said hey.

It all sounds horrible, but actually, sometimes I have fun. On one occasion, my stepdad Ondy, made me laugh by casually stating something along the lines of, 'I feel really good about this. Here we are, on a public holiday, and we're wiping away diseases. People won't get aids and other things because of us. Cleaners! Saving the world, one toilet at a time!'

"Cleaners!", I yelled, punching my cleaning rag into the air.

So I just wanted to say, next time you see those daggy looking people wheeling a trolley full of cleaning gear, and you feel like ignoring them, don't. Smile, look them in the eyes, and don't hesitate to thank them for keeping the place clean. They work damn hard to keep your hygiene standards satisfied, and I think they deserve a good high five for their efforts. 

Go cleaners!

xZ

Grand Angus

I hate to relate the wonderful Angus Stone to a greasy Maccas burger, but I'm gonna stick with the above title because the only other thing I could think of was 'Stoned in Love' and hmm yeah, he's lightyears away from J.T as well.

"He said I am the devil boy, come with me and we'll make many storms"

Anyway, I'd like to introduce a small, appreciative photo collection of the man that is definitely going to be your future indie crush - or current one, if you've heard his voice before! - the talented and very bearded Angus from Angus and Julia Stone.

I happen to love his look as well as his voice - the seemingly effortless, character-filled shirts, the wildly scruffy locks. He's got that ruggedly handsome, free spirit thing going on. Do you agree?

Before you begin scrolling through, why don't you press play on the little music video below and you can look and listen at the same time :-) -

A friend of mine, Kellie, adores Angus & Julia Stone and she recently encouraged me to delve further into their music, beyond 'Just a Boy' and 'Big Jet Plane'.
Following this I haven't stopped listening to both the above 'Devil's Tears', and another kinda beautifully sad song, 'Draw Your Swords'. That one gives me shivers sometimes. Recommend you check it out if you don't know it, as well as a few of their albums! Angus also does his own stuff; he's got a solo album - Smoking Gun - released under the name "Lady of the Sunshine".

Hope you enjoy him/them as much as Kellie and I do!
If you're a fan already, I'd love to hear what your favourite song is, or what you love about the music...
Comment below!

xZ


Images sourced from Glamour Gypsy, Angus & Julia Stone Tumblr, and F-yeah Aus Boys.

Easter Festive Fashion

When I walked into the kitchen this morning, this is what I found.* 

My gorgeous Mum had left one giant Easter egg each for my little brother and I, and set them up just like dippy eggs! :')

This of course reminded me that it was the Easter season, and I was inspired to hunt out all my pastel coloured clothes. 

I call this look, 'the secretary in dire need of a holiday'. I imagine 'she' would happily wear this to work on Good Friday, not realising it's actually a national day off.

I tried to style my hair in a beehive... in a lazy cheat kinda way.

Doesn't my head just look like a giant chocolate egg now??

And this is what I'm actually comfortable with wearing around today!

Hope you have a wonderful Easter!! 

xxZ

*Well...not quite, I actually forgot to photograph it before I hacked into its chocolate-ly deliciousness!


Note: Thank you to my 8-year-old brother Louis for being an excellent photographer,
and Jess for suggesting a rockin' title for this post... while we're meant to be studying! :]

What on earth does one do with a 'cape'?!

Image from InStyle

You may think they're slightly ridiculous, but they're big in fashion. And boy do they remind me of Blair Waldorf. Or somebody on their way to a duel.
The cape.

You may wear a cape-styled shirt, like Michelle from Mitch In Heels showcases in her latest post [really, you've never seen someone wearing blue jeans looks so badass!].
Or you might wear a cape-styled coat on top of your outfit, keeping you classy and cosy.
But, I hear you asking - "What am I supposed to wear with it, without looking over the top?"

Well as someone very new to the whole concept of capes, I took up the challenge to style three capes all on my own. Inspired by Michelle; here they are:

I think I like the middle the best, because it's got a sort of vintage look to it, and I like the lighter tones and floaty dress with the dramatic structure of the cape. 

The last outfit I tried to style as something you might wear on a sexy dinner date. I can imagine a woman rocking up to the restaurant in the dark cape and taking it off to reveal a stunning red dress beneath that turns heads. 

Which do you prefer? Can you see yourself ever investing in a cape?  

xZ

Polyvore Rookie

I made my first collage on Polyvore!

I could be shy about it but I'm curious to know what you guys think.

When I first saw people using Polyvore.com, I thought it was boring and only for the seasoned fashion bloggers who live and breathe clothes. But actually, it's fun! I do love the ballet slippers and the rings, as well as the top on the left, so pretty! I just drool over lace. 

Can you imagine someone wearing these outfits?

What do you want me to do, take up underwater hockey??

Image source: Pinkperfume

I often used to joke about taking up underwater knitting as a profession or a hobby whenever somebody asked me what I wanted to do with my life.

Last night, I was gobsmacked when somebody invited me to play underwater hockey.
"They do that?!"
Karen - a girl I had met on the same day at work - replied yes, in fact they do, and said that I should come along that night.
"We meet at 6pm... at the aquatic centre."

I drove home with full intentions of skipping that night but going to check it out the week after - because really, 6pm was half an hour away, I didn't know where my bathers were (actually yes I did, I just felt it had been way too long since I'd worn them and felt comfortable!), and I had only just met this girl and I was feeling shy.
But Mum and my stepdad totally talked me into it, bathers and all. Mum even volunteered to drive me to make it all less daunting.

We walked into the massive olympic pool arena, breathing in the chlorine and cautiously looking around. I spotted Karen, and ran up to tap her on the shoulder.
"You came!", she exclaimed, obviously stoked.

Mum took her place on the benches, while a woman introduced herself to me as Jasmine. She explained the gear I would be needing, holding out a snorkel mask, flippers, a padded glove, and best of all - a cap with built in ear guards. 
I put on the gear, very amused at how I must've looked, and slipped into the pool.

Yep. That's me. Looking like a boss. 

It turned out our instructors actually used to play for the national team. Yeah I know, underwater hockey is actually that big.

One of them was also a school teacher, I found out, because I had told her, "I feel like a six-year-old kid at a sports event" while she was adjusting my mask for me. 

"Oh, sorry! I'm just used to fussing over the school kids," she said. 

"No that's okay," I laughed, "I started it - I was the one that brought my mum along to watch!"

And everyone laughed at me. 

I didn't care that I felt like the baby, it was fun sharing the experience with Mum afterwards.
She mostly saw me kicking about and coming up for air countless times with HUUUGE gasps.

The game is actually really intensive on your muscles and on your lungs. You play with mini sticks, and a heavy weighted puck which can be passed a metre or two, but you mostly just push it around when you're frantically swimming low to the ground. People swim over you and into you, with dangerously kicking legs all over the joint. If you're unfit, like me, you're going to be panting and dying within the first fifteen minutes, being forced to give up some chances at scoring because you just can't hang on underwater any more.

But if you're like me you just try your hardest, and get in a good few saves, as well as one VICTORIOUS GOAL at the end - woohoo!
Except Karen and I had pretty much both driven the puck in - she got confused and thought she was battling someone from the other team. I knew it was only her but didn't stop to let her get the goal by herself because hey, this was my first and only moment! Haha. Aren't we the ultimate example of team work?

Anyway, point of story - I am definitely not the kind of person that just jumps up and goes, "Yeah why not! I'll be there in 5!" in the face of completely new situations.
But that night, I found some sort of boldness, even if only forced into me. And I'm so super glad I did.

Do you have any fun water sports offered at your local aquatic centre? I definitely recommend checking it out! It only cost me $5 to play, and different people are allowed to come each week. It's all for fun, with the chance to meet people without the pressure to make up conversation with them right away.


xZ