THINGS I ATE THIS WEEK

I have had a very uneventful week, unless you count meals as events... which I do! Here are things that I have eaten this week, chosen on the basis of how easy they are to draw.



Fuck, I just ate that entire plate of tofu and I am still peckish.

CHIPSTER DETAILS 13.02.12

Happy Valentine's Day! I will be spending the day working on an assignment for Summer School and most likely eating copious amounts of chocolate. There are profiteroles in my fridge and profiteroles are kind of amazing.

I go through phases of feeling artistic, I drew this fox with the aim of turning it into a Valentine's Day card with the caption "You're Foxy". Dangerfield had a sale the other day so I bought these cross stockings. A man on the train asked me if I was a Christian, because of the stockings and I replied "do you really think that I would wear my religious symbol on my hosiery?" He was drunk, though, so that just confused him.

My cousin and I went to the MCA to catch the end of the Rafael Lozano-Hemmer exhibition, which was actually the funniest art ever. 33 Questions per Minute is an art piece that generates random questions, and some of the results were hilarious and also weirdly thought-provoking (despite the slightly confusing syntax).

Visited a new waffle house in Balmain called Wafflicious. I'd never had waffles before, so I ordered the most delicious-sounding item on the menu (the chocolate monstrosity on the right) and it was so sickly sweet and goooood.

Oh, and the pretty, pretty Jane from the blog Deluminators has 'tagged' me or something, I don't quite understand, but the result is that I get to post 7 facts about myself. Because really, I don't nearly talk about myself enough on this blog.

1. I'm currently in my fifth year of a Commerce/Arts degree, with majors in Marketing, International Business and Sociology. Good news, these are three areas which have some of the highest graduate unemployment rates!

2. I am a feminist and I think that all intelligent women should consider themselves feminists unless they have an amazingly thought-provoking reason for not doing so (like, they don't want to align themselves with a movement that has been predominantly represented by white, middle-class women, for instance).

3. I'm Australian, but I get really caught up in American news. So much so that I forget who the premier of NSW is, but I can name all the US Republican party candidates. I am puzzled when people here don't know who Casey Anthony is.

4. I love Jane Austen and period romances (but NOT Wuthering Heights). My favourites are Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice - if Captain Wenthworth and Elizabeth Bennett could get together I think I would die of happiness.

5. When I was in high school, I decided I wanted to write the next YA book sensation in the vein of the Babysitter's Club or Sweet Valley High series'. I wrote about 20 first chapters and none of them got further than 10 pages.

6. I want to be skinny for fashion, but I love food way too much. Sometimes I plan my day around what I am going to eat. Tonight I'm going to have a veggie pie from Pie Face (the most delicious pie in the world!) and tomorrow morning I'm thinking eggs and baked beans on toast.

7. I am supposed to be doing two essays right now, but I am procrastinating.

I don't know what Jane was talking about, that was easy.

LAST MINUTE VALENTINES

Source: How About Orange

So Valentine's Day is approaching. You know you shouldn't care because it's a holiday invented by corporations, but just in case you do and you need some last minute gift ideas for your significant other, I have some I am willing to share. I am feeling benevolent.

♥ Books: I think books are one of the most romantic gifts ever. If you know your Valentine well enough, you should be able to get them a book they will really really enjoy. One year Rob and I got each other books for Valentine's Day. Some people didn't get it, but I thought it was the best Valentine's gift ever (he bought me Gregory Maguire's Wicked and Son of a Witch).

♥ A mixtape: Cliche, I know. All music is digital these days, I know. But there is still something a little bit awesome about a homemade mixtape. Music seems so much more precious and significant when it comes in a physical form like a CD. It doesn't have to be full of romance songs or anything, fill it with Notorious BIG, if that's what you're in to (hint: everyone loves them some Biggie Smalls). Also, you HAVE to make an awesome CD cover a la Michael Cera in Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist.

♥ Personalised cocktail: I will let you in on a secret - red/pink beverages are the best. Also, alcoholic beverages are the best. Put them together, and you have an awesome explosion. Concoct your own deadly drink and name it after your beau, then make up a giant batch for Val Day, settle down in front of the sunset/fireplace/television, enjoy. Some ideas for cocktails - watermelon puree, lemonade, Bacardi, Malibu; pink grapefruit juice, strawberries, vodka, peach schnapps; Campari, OJ, soda; scotch, lemonade, grenadine; or something from here.

♥ Hot chocolate kit for two: Purchase two cute mugs and place in them two sachets of chocolate powder/hot choc mix; two sets of mini marshmallows; two Cadbury Flake sticks; wrap it all in cellophane or place in a basket. It's a date and gift in one. Particularly awesome if you are living somewhere that has snow right now.

♥ A freaking adorable date: Everyone loves animals, so find your nearest zoo or aquarium or wildlife sanctuary and purchase two tickets. Then make or buy a card with your SO's favourite animal pictured on it and place the two tickets inside. If you can't pre-purchase the tickets, or if you buy them online or something, print out or make two Admit One tickets and put those inside instead. I hope my boyfriend is reading this, because THIS IS WHAT I WANT.

♥ Something for your nerdy Valentine: Buy a Rubik's Cube and write something on the white blocks, like I LUV YOU, YOU AND ME, I♥U 4 EVA, etc. Then scramble the cube, wrap it up and give it to your loved one to solve. Give them some ultimatum as well, like "if you can't solve it then you must not really love me" to really motivate them into spending all their waking hours working on that frustrating little cube. Bragging rights: I can solve them, bitches.

Of course, you could always go the well-trodden route and give your Valentine some overpriced roses, chocolates or a sickly sweet card with a cheesy poem inside, but those things are really bloody boring. I mean, a dozen roses delivered on Val Day costs the same as a Taronga Zoo annual membership and I think we all know which is more awesome.

DIY DECORATIVE COLLAR

FACT: Procrastinating over a university assessment late at night is the most conducive environment to DIY crafting. As a bona fide Chipster, I love collars, and I noticed that they are selling them by themselves in all the stores now (for like $10+!!!), so I decided to make my own. It is SO RIDICULOUSLY EASY. I think I will rename my blog "Home of the Way Too Easy DIY Projects".

First, all you'll need is any old collared shirt in the colour/print of your choice. Check thrift stores for cheap ones, especially in the men's section.

Cut just outside the seam along the collar (not at the part where it folds over).



Using fabric paint/pen or a sharpie colour in the tips of the collar.

You can use real glitter, but I didn't have any so I just used glittery nail polish to paint over the tips.

Then I just added some stripes for fun. And that's it! Super easy and now you can wear your collar with jumpers (sweaters) and dresses, or to class up a bikini - whatever! Other things you could use to decorate your collars - polka dots, studs, stickers, or brooches.

Thanks for visiting!

CHIPSTER STYLE

Welcome to this week's issue of Chipster Style™ (this is my way of covering up for the fact that I have nothing substantial to blog about, except a boring outfit post). In this weekly/fortnightly/monthly/maybe just one-off segment, I look at the Chipster in their natural environment - an outfit post for a fashion blog.

Chipster bloggers naturally gravitate towards good photo backdrop opportunities like brick buildings, overgrown fields and plain white walls.

Chipsters also love translucent curtains that provide just the right amount of backlighting.

To recreate this Chipster look, you will need:
1 x old black cardigan stolen from mother's wardrobe, which can incorrectly be attributed as "vintage"
1 x white collared shirt with decorative element (DIY it with an old shirt and some sharpies!)
1 x high-waisted black shorts, don't tell anyone they are from Supre, because that place is fucking skanky
1 x quirky brooch from markets. Mine is from A Skulk of Foxes (which is actually pretty cool in a non-sarcastic way, so check them out)

And so now all you aspiring Chipsters can recreate this look at home. You're welcome.