SUMMER, CIDER, SUN

Finally getting some proper Summer sunshine out here in Sydney. I was growing increasingly jealous of all those lucky kids heading off to awesome music festivals, so I drove over to Rob's, with triple J cranked up, and then forced him to sit in the park and eat burgers and have a cider with me and enjoy the sun.

Is drinking in a park illegal? We were sitting adjacent to the Balmain water police station, because we are badass.

Tomorrow is NYE, and I will be working, yeah! Don't feel too sorry for me, though, I work at the Sydney Opera House and will have a prime viewing position for the fireworks, with my glass of champagne in hand.

P.S. I'm so excited to see all these awesome comments. Lady bloggers are the nicest people on the internet :)

A VERY CHIPSTER CHRISTMAS

I hope everyone has had an amazing Christmas! I spent mine eating way too much chocolate, baking maple-glazed turkey, watching the Dr Who Christmas special and the cartoon version of The Hobbit, exchanging presents and hosting my very first Christmas party.

My boyfriend, Rob, and I hosted the little get-together at his house. His front patio is beautiful, because his dad has the greenest fingers, and of course the view is gorgeous.

The colour theme was Christmas-y red and white, so I picked out all the red and white lollies from a mixed packet. That's attention to detail, yo.

We had way too much food for such a small party, so much that I actually had a nightmare in which I was worried about where to put it all.

It was a gendered affair. The boys, all dressed in plaid, stuck to the barbie and their beers.

I love how well my friends fit into the colour scheme. Look at Jessie's bow!

Those straws! They took me so long to find, but they're so cute it was worth it. And Rob plays the ukelele, whilst looking adorable.

I made fancy jelly shots! The ones above are Frangelico and cranberry, and Bacardi and lemonade. The ones below (my favourite) are tiny Mojitos complete with tiny mint leaves! I got the idea for them here. They were so time-consuming to make, but also worth it because they looked fantastic.

And I think I have concocted the perfect Summer cocktail. Watermelon juice, with lemonade and rum (Bacardi and Malibu)! Served in jars, because I am chipster.

The night ended with some games. Twister, charades and Trivial Pursuit: Baby Boomers edition (which was insanely difficult). I rigged this game to force the boys into ridiculous positions, I am pretty evil.

It was such a pretty party. Hopefully all my friends had fun, but even if they didn't, at least the pictures turned out nicely. :D

CHIPSTER DETAILS: CHRISTMAS EDITION

This week I:

• Learned how to wrap gifts properly
• Put string lights up in my room (and they're staying there all year)
• Drank from jars with striped straws
• Made Christmas dinner!
• DIY'd a bunch of party decorations
• Made cookies for the first time ever (maple choc chip), they were delicious
• Made lemon tart
• Hung up a creepy mistletoe with Santa ornament (everyone refused to kiss under it)
• HAD AN AMAZING CHRISTMAS!!
  

CHIPSTER DETAILS 20.12.11

My Christmas friends! Fox with his candy cane and Bear with her hat :)

Just a painting of my boyfriend as Greek god Hermes. No big deal. His father's friend did this as a gift to the family. I want to have an Ancient Greek version of myself so badly.

I just bought a nail art pen from Morning Glory. Still getting used to using it, but it's so much fun. I want ALL the colours!

Newest issue of frankie. I really, really should get a subscription, but there are always people on their facebook page complaining about not getting their issues on time, or receiving rain-damaged issues. All my frankies are kept in perfect mint condition, and I buy them the day they come out!

I bought this clip-on bow for $1, it is the adorablest.

You can sort of see me wearing it in this picture from my work Christmas party, where I appear to be throwing up ice. Yay!

CHALKBOARD BAUBLES

I promise this isn't a Christmas blog, but it's that time of year and my boyfriend just got his pre-order of that new Star Wars game, so I don't have anything else to do but Christmas DIYs! It seems that the only DIYs I can do are ridiculously easy ones (see Bolo DIY).

Things you will need:
- Blackboard paint
- Paintbrush
- Baubles
- Yup, that's it.

Rob bought me this blackboard paint for my birthday or for Christmas, or maybe not even for a special occasion. Lay down some newspaper, wet your brush in some water and paint over the surface of the bauble. Don't worry if it's streaky, you will have to do at least two layers anyway.

You could probably let the baubles dry more effectively by hanging them somewhere, but I just put them out to dry on newspaper. What this means is that the side that is sitting on the newspaper won't dry properly, but you can fix this up with a second coat. Leave the paint to dry for two hours before a second coat.

My baubles look streaky because I only applied one coat.

Other things to do with blackboard paint! Labels on jars! And this adorable piggy bank (which I didn't paint).

WISHLIST

While I wait for my stomach to settle after dinner and before exercising (blehh, I'm doing Jillian Michael's 30 day shred. It's been, like, 3 weeks and I'm only on day 10 because I keep taking "rest breaks"), I will make myself sick with longing for the following items (which, come to think of it, I could easily just buy these things as none of them are too inexpensive, proving that I probably don't want them that much).

I could totally use this Milk crate with glass bottles, from emerald + ella, $29.95, at my Christmas party. It would probably be super easy to just collect some recycled bottles and buy a rack from a bargain store, but look how cute the presentation is here!

Dr Who TARDIS lunch box is what I really want for Christmas (but it's all sold out), from ThinkGeek, $16.99. I want this lunch box to take to work and lord my geekiness over my coworkers. What I would put in my lunch box - Reese's mini peanut butter cups. I only just discovered these little parcels of delicious candy crack (not widely available in Oz). Once I Google searched "why are Reese's mini peanut cups so addictive". The hits were not helpful.

Also from ThinkGeek, the Dr. Who Adipose Plush, $19.99! The episode these creatures appeared in was one of the first Dr. Who episodes I had ever seen and that episode was especially wack, so it was a good introduction. They are so cute! Who wouldn't want to help them take over human bodies and use Earth as their nursery?

This Tatebanko diorama kit is the shit, from Poketo, $12. I would preferably like it pre-assembled, because I am a very impatient person. I'd start off meticulously putting the pieces together, but my urgent need to see it finished would mean that I'd be doing a half-arsed job of it by the end.

A lot less realistically, I want this jacket from Jason Wu's 2012 pre-fall collection. I would like this whole outfit, actually, and several more pieces from the rest of the collection. But there is no way in hell I am paying hundreds/thousands of dollars for a jacket, so I'll just admire from afar. Also, what is "pre-fall", isn't that just Summer? Fashion confuses me sometimes.

HOLY SHIT, I LOVE CHRISTMAS

Seriously, Christmas is my favourite holiday. I love it better than birthdays and anniversaries. I love it a million times more than New Years (I loathe New Years, it is a sad, sad time).

I am becoming obsessive about the upcoming Christmas party my boyfriend and I are throwing. I have never hosted a proper party before. I think spent about 20 hours sourcing red and white paper straws (ended up getting them here). Just as many hours were occupied making red and white pom poms. And the other day, I purchased a pack of doilies, one of the most versatile of DIY materials.

You can use little paper doilies as gift labels! They really help to cover up a shoddy wrapping job. Where do people learn to wrap gifts? My way of wrapping is to make 5 sides of the box look decent, but if you turn it over, a giant mess of scrunched paper and masking tape will be revealed.

Or thread some wool/string through and use them to decorate your tree! I don't have a tree this year, so I've just hung my doilies around my room.

Also, I bought this one big crocheted doily. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it yet. Maybe it can be part of a table centerpiece?

I know my boyfriend bought me a camera for Christmas, so in two weeks I will be able to take pretty pictures for this blog, including pictures of the party! I haven't even started to plan what food I am going to serve, I've been too obsessed with making the event appropriately chipster.

CHIPSTER DETAILS 12.12.11

Summer has yet to hit, so I've been making the most of the (hopefully) few cold days I have left by wearing all my collared shirts buttoned to the top.

Eating berry yoghurt at my desk at work, because I have nothing better to do, other than blog and eat. Also, I made quinoa for the first time and it is amazing and super delicious. I ate it with some veg, bocconcini and hot sauce, because I'm a gourmet chipster, bitches.

The decorated buses during Christmas make me audibly squeal with delight. I want my room to look like this. I want the world to look like this. All the time.

I made a chevron-y friendship bracelet. For myself, because I am a lonely, friendless bastard.

To combat loneliness, I watch Daria. Because that show is all hopefulness and happiness right? I'm convinced that Jane is Asian, despite her super white parents and siblings (and blue eyes?). She is my cartoon soul-mate and if my face was angular and severe enough, I would rock that hairdo so hard.