Contagious Laziness

I have a tumblr now. Why? Mostly because I'm too lazy to write things of substance and would rather post random crap and pictures, half of which is already on here anyway. So take a look see if you are bored or desperate, or both. http://www.tracyrose2.tumblr.com/

For Vintage' Sakes!

During the weekend I attended the HUGE VINTAGE SALE at the Bakery https://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/hugevintagesale. They hold one about twice a month or so and in different places, I've been once before but couldn't be bothered waiting the very long and winding line-up. This Sunday I was determined, I russled up the beau and off on the bus we went. There was an equally long and winding line-up this time but we were given vintage cocktails to make the wait a bit more bearable. I was rather tipsy on my 'Bloody Maria' when we finally got in and being in a stuffy concrete room with various spotlights everywhere making you feel as if you were being interrogated instead of shopping for vintage clothes gave me a rather bad headache. At the end of it all (and after feeling rather uncomfortable in a communal change room) I got quite a few nice things and the beau got a shirt.

We spent the afternoon in Leederville where I went into YoYo Buffalo a really cute little shop where I bought my first pair of Melissa's!

I wish I had a better camera, they look much better in real life and you can't see my grubby fingerprints. They are Alexandre Herchcovitch for Melissa, and are a Brogue style wedge in the signature Melissa rubber. They are incredibly comfortable and were 40% off, it was a sign. I can't wait to wear them out! High on the purchase of my first Melissa's we tramped off to San Churros where I made a complete toss of my self by tripping over a sign and falling into some girl. I was alright, limping for a few days after but nothing could dampen my high.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Trailer 2011 HD

I've read all the books, I've seen the Swedish movie and I love them. I was one of those people that when they heard there was an American version being made went 'Oh great, that's what we need, another Hollywood remake' but when I heard that David Fincher was directing it I got really excited. When I heard that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross were doing the soundtrack I got even MORE excited. I love David Fincher's other movies (Fight Club, Seven etc.) and Trent Reznor is basically a God to me, Social Network was really good and the soundtrack was amazing so I am only expecting good things from this!

Ha-rumph

There is some sort of horrible evil virus on my computer and something is a miss. It won't let me return comments or anything. I wish I could use it as an excuse for me not posting but there's no excuse for me being a lazy slob. :o

For the Love of Rugged Manly Men

Big Boi - Follow Us (Edited) ft. Vonnegutt

I haven't posted in a loooong time. Mostly because I now have a full time job and have become a grown up. No not really, I'll never feel or most likely act like a grown up, but I do have a full time job. I'm still getting used to the whole getting up early EVERYDAY, and not having days of during the week to be lazy and let my slob self out. Anyway, I've been getting into more hip hop lately, mostly The Roots and Big Boi, both of which have really good recent albums, check them out. Also big ups to my sister who actually went out and bought the Big Boi cd.

"Modern Love" by The Last Town Chorus - Official Video

I'm not usually a fan of covers but for some reason I really like this. Might be the slide guitar or how 90s the lead singer looks, who knows? I don't. Enjoy!

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - I Learned the Hard Way

Recently been getting into Sharon Jones, the retro lover in me eats this right up. I had the chance to see her live at a festival and I missed it (hate when you get into someone AFTER you have the opportunity to see them play). Here's hoping it's some day soon.

Some Handy Tips For Keeping Germ Free At Work

:D

Some More Procrastination

http://bomomo.com/

This is a really cool little image maker, very much like paint but much more fun and interesting. I spent the better half of an hour experimenting with all the different types of brushes or whatever.

This is the first one that I made, my 8 year old self is utterly fascinated by it.

Holy Fuck - Red Lights

Yes, another cat video. This is a really cool band that I've been getting into lately (thanks to the beau) and not only is the music good and this video has cats but they're from Toronto. I saw them over the weekend at Laneway, an Australian festival. They were amazing of course and my beau bought me some Holy Fuck hotpants!

http://holyfuck.firebrandlive.com/item/holy-fuck-logo-hot-pants-hot-pink/12058/
http://perth.lanewayfestival.com.au/

The Cove

It's times like these when I wish I was a better writer, where I could properly express the way something makes me feel, be it a book, movie or song. Needless to say this documentary, The Cove, is unreal, basically about the slaughter of dolphins in a Japanese fishing village that happens every year. I don't want to give to much away because I would rather people see it than hear too much about it and form a biased opinion because it's another 'hippie Greenpeace type'. It isn't. If you have any sort of compassion not just for animals but in general this piece of film will make you cry and then make you angry that this injustice is carried out every single year and there are only a handful of people trying to stop it. This isn't for the faint of heart, it's quite violent and confronting but please do your best to watch it. It will change the way you think, about many things.

http://www.thecovemovie.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KRD8e20fBo

For My Berfday

I've been baking since I was 14 and have usually made my own birthday cake (Smarties Galore). With the exception of my 20th birthday where my sister and her husband made an AMAZING Oreo cake. Yes OREO. It took me a while to get into baking again because I wasn't used to an Australian convection oven and was thus scarred by burnt cookies and stayed away. This year I decided to make something a little different and more adventurous, well it was adventurous for me because I'd never made it before. I chose Upside Down Pineapple cake not only because it's not to rich and has a summery tropical flavour but when we were leaving Canada a friend of my mothers had us over for a farewell dinner where she made this beautiful cake and I had it for the first time and swore that I would make it myself one day. Finally got around to it. Here is the recipe and some pictures. I used a recipe from my Williams-Sonoma baking book.

Ingredients:

For the topping-

• Cooking Spray for greasing (I just used butter)
• 1/2 a fresh pineapple peeled and trimmed (I used canned, because not only does it come peeled and trimmed and in perfect rounds but it also has the juice)
• 60g unsalted butter
• 3/4 firmly packed brown sugar

For the sponge-

• 1 3/4 cup of plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 185g of unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup of whole milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 F).Lightly grease a 9 inch (23cm) cake pan. Cut the pineapple crosswise into slices 1/2 inch thick, core, and then cut into half moons. In a small saucepan on medium heat, melt the butter, add the brown sugar and stir until small bubbles appear, 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into cake pan, arrange 7-8 pineapple half moons in a circular pattern and set aside. For the cake, mix flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg in a bowl ( always sift) set aside. In another bowl whisk the eggs and vanilla. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment ( I used a hand mixer and it worked out fine) beat the butter until pale and fluffy, slowly add the granulated sugar and beat for 2-3 minutes longer. Gradually add the egg mixture making sure to beat well after each addition. Add the flour mixture in 2 additions alternating with the milk and beating on low speed after each addition. Mix until the batter is smooth, and do NOT over mix, it should be quite thick. Spread the batter in cake pan and bake for 35-45 minutes until golden brown/skewer comes out clean. Let it cool for 5-10 minutes, then turn it out onto a platter and make sure to scrap out left over juices. Serve warm.

This is what it should look like when it comes out of the oven and it should spring back when touched. Turn it upside down, et voila!

Don't You Just Love Hipsters?

Ok I don't have anything against 'Hipsters' or any other genre or sub-group or whatever, there's just something about them (along with Emos) that you just want to make fun of. I guess, like most people, they have an annoying sense of self-importance and need for people to think they're cool/different. I can identify with that, I love telling people that 'No it's not an "ok movie" it's a terrible rip off of a foreign film that you clearly haven't seen because you're to much of a pleb to read sub-titles'. I know quite a few hipsters, they're good people...but I can see a slight grimace in their eyes when I praise Beyonce, because, you know, she's so 'mainstream' and isn't an obscure Norwegian folk singer with Bi-Polar tendencies and a pet reindeer. Who are they to judge? Honestly. So here are some tid-bits about 'hipsters' and some of them are funny and pretty much all of them are true.

A Day in the Life of Alessandro Cortini

This is a day in the life of the awesome and amazing Alessandro Cortini (as the title states). Not only was he in Nine Inch Nails during their With Teeth/Year Zero era and now has a successful band of his own (Sunoio) but he is a lover of cats. He has about 5 it looks like, clearly he has a bit of 'Crazy Cat Lady' lurking around in there. I think if my beau-hunk and I ever get a house of our own it's going to be filled with the two main things in this video, synthesizers (him) and cats (me).

Bitchin' Fish Tank Bra

This is such a cool and creative fish tank, so much more exciting and fun for your fishies than your run of the mill square aquarium.

Aus Day

I made brownies for Australia day, they look quite fancy but I cheated and made them from a box, the White Wings double chocolate brownies to be exact. They look yummy and they tasted even better.

Ajkbndrborewp!!

Ok, I found this web-site, well I didn't really 'find' it because it was the first one on the results page, but they have discounted designer goods. Normally I don't even like to look because I know theres no way I can afford it and I wouldn't be able to justify spending that amount of money on one item. But this website is http://www.christianlouboutin100.com/christian-louboutin-pumps.html quite affordable, especially for a pair of Christian Louboutins which are coveted by every shoe loving woman.

One of the Coolest Bedrooms Ever

How AWESOME is this bedroom? It has a pool in it! I'm not saying it's my dream bedroom but I wouldn't be disappointed if it was. I firmly believe that homes are for free expression not good impressions, imagine all the expressions one would be making in this bedroom ;)

Sphynx Kitten's Bath Time

Sphynx cats aren't exactly the cutest or most cuddley of cats, but this is too sweet :)

Emma Watson All Grown Up

As most other 20 (almost 21) year olds I grew up reading and watching Harry Potter. I've gotten used to seeing the cast all grown up, although it was a shock at first. I'm not a huge Emma Watson (Hermione) fan but I do like her and it's pretty cool that she decided to go to university and get an education first before pursuing her acting career beyond Harry Potter. http://www.touchpuppet.com/2010/08/18/emma-watson-by-ellen-von-unwerth/ This a link for photo shoot done by Ellen Von Unwerth who is a pretty rad fashion photographer and it was done before Emma Watson went all Carey Mulligan and had all her hair chopped off, she still looks pretty awesome though.

P.S The clothes are sweeeeet.

Some Op-Shop Goodies Part 2

Here are the rest of my Op-shop/Thrift Store finds. These are some records I picked up for $2 each, I have a bit of a collection of musicals and even if the record itself is a bit scratched you can always just frame it if the sleeve is OK. I'm definitely going to frame these, they're classics!

The shoes I was given to by a friend of my sister's she doesn't wear them anymore and they're really cute and I've been looking for a pair of Mary-Jane style shoes. The cake server I got for $0.50 from an Op-Shop near my sisters house. This amazing travel wallet was found at the Salvation Army where I found most of the other things. It's real leather and has been hardly used. I can't wait to break it in!

Next I found this cute dress, it doesn't quite fit me (yet) but it has a really nice shape, and it has belt loops so I'll need to find a belt to go with it. I picked up this really cute zester and juicer for really cheap. Everyone should have a zester and juicer.

I highly recommend trolling your local Op-shops, not only can you find some really cute (and useful) things for cheap but it also helps a great cause. Going to vintage shops are nice once in a while, I visited Oh Henry! today for the first time in Northbridge and found these AWESOME pair of brown mules. They have a low heel and are made from real leather and are super comfortable. $40 is a little steep, but I figured they would be good for summer/autumn and I can sell them on if I get tired of them.

Some Cool Op-Shop Goodies Part 1

I've been to a few Op-Shops (a.k.a thrift stores) during the week and found some really interesting and quirky things. As much as I love vintage markets/stores I always get a bit miffed that they hike up the price so much. I understand that the sellers need to make a profit and vintage clothes are unique but do they really have to over charge by that much? A nightie that I found was $5 and if I bought it at a Vintage market it would have been about $30. I like to think I have an eye for things..

Here are some pictures, please excuse the quality of photos, had to use the old point and shoot because my other camera's batteries died...fail, I know.

This is the nightie I mentioned before, it was $5 from St. Vinnies in Maylands, I can just imagine Betty Draper walking out of her bathroom in this.

This is a pair of shoes I got for $4, they have a low heel and are pretty comfortable, I never really find shoes at Op-shops that fir because I have small feet but sometimes I get lucky. I'm going to 'bedazzle' them with some floral fabric. These are just a couple of ties I liked the look of, only $0.50 each!

This morning my sister took me to some Op-shops near here and I found all these gems.

The one the left is a jug, perfect for iced-tea, and the red one is a tea pot, both were $2. This another cute little tea pot I got for $2, it said three piece set but they must have been sold, there were tea bags inside haha. This a one of those old cases that had the hair dryer with the cap attached and you put over your rollers, the dryer isn't there anymore but I love the case, I also have a newer one which I picked up at a Vintage Market. This one cost me $2 and the one from the market was $20!

I have lots more, but I'll keep it to these for now and post the rest later.