A letter to Jill..

Dear Jill,

With a heavy heart this morning I write you this letter.
I didn't know you. We had never met, never spoken and I only heard of you last Saturday when I came across the facebook page that told of your disappearance. But, somehow over the last week, I have felt like you were my friend.

I thought of you constantly. I updated news posts and facebook pages hourly to see the latest on the case and I was worried sick for you. I must admit, after day 2 I knew it wasn't looking good but I held hope in my heart that this time it would be different. That Police would burst through someone's front door and there you'd be. Terrified but ok. That you'd run to your husband and embrace him and we'd all shout "Hooray! She's ok!". You'd go back to your normal life and we'd all breathe a sigh of relief. But it was not to be. This morning as soon as I woke up, still lying in bed, I grabbed my phone to check the update and there was the news I had been praying against. The news confirming all of our fears. Your body was found. I feel like I am grieving and I am a total stranger. My heart hurts, my thoughts are with your family and I can only begin to understand what they are going through today. No one would wish that sort of pain on anybody.

As a Coburg girl I, like you, have spent many hours of my life walking the streets of Coburg and Brunswick. Yes, I was cautious and always weary and had experienced my share of creepy behaviour. But you never ever think it would turn into something like this. You always think the weirdo will just walk away and that's the end. Because of you, I will never walk anywhere on my own again. If that's the only semi positive thing that comes out of all of this, please know that what happened to you will help save other women. We will all think twice now about what we do.

I am so saddened that your life was cut so short for no reason. That you will never fulfil dreams you had, never grow old and grey with your husband, never experience more of life. That in an instant some sick person (I can't call him a human being) thought he had the right to do what he did to you. May he suffer for the rest of his days with his guilt weighing him down. And know we all wish that for him. If not worse.

Jill, know that you had millions of people praying for you, thinking about you and sending our love to your family this last week. I hope your husband, parents, brother and the rest know how many strangers have cared for Jill over the last 6 days and understand how many people have been affected by this senseless and disgusting act of cruelty.

Jill may your beautiful soul rest in peace and may your loved ones be comforted and be strong to get through this tragedy.

Love Angie.L
xxx

Click on this link to read Jill's story

Current obsessions...

I must admit, I have an obsessive personality. I find something I like and either wear it every day, pine for it ever day, watch it every day or use it every day! These are some of the things I have currently constantly in my thoughts..... MY NEW FAVOURITE POLISH: CHANEL 'JUNE'

Perfect every day colour (matches my ring beautifully too! hehehe)

MY NEW WOOD BLOCK CALENDAR: TYPO Loving this, except I must admit sometimes the blocks stay on the same date for a couple of days in a row.. I'm forgetful!!!

PRETZELS & POPCORN: Yummy snacks Seriously. I realised after I looked into the bottom of the empty pretzel bag that I need help. I was CRAVING these all day. Then devoured them. Embarrassing.

LULU: MY CAT My parents laugh at me because they think I'm more excited to see her at the end of the day than to see them. I am. Why is that funny?

THIS TEA POT/CUP: HILARIOUS EVERY TIME I LOOK AT IT.

THIS PHONE: I WANT IT I have no idea where to get this but I want it. Now.

There will be more obsessions next week I'm sure. I'll keep you posted. Love, Angie. L

Wonderful Weekend!

What a wonderful weekend I had! With wedding planning and working 2 jobs to save for it taking up all my time, getting to have a couple of days of socialising was exactly what I needed! It started off on Friday night with a dinner at the fabulous COMME in Melbourne's CBD. It was a birthday celebration of a wonderful friend who deserved a great night out with the girls!

The 7 of us sat at a long table and took ages to decide what to eat as we kept chatting and chatting and catching up. We devoured the bread and butter which, we know we shouldn't fill up on but it was too good not to! 6 out of 7 of us ordered the same thing! Steak frites, English watercress & béarnaise (Sirloin)and it was DELICIOUS.

We had sides as well (Oak leaf Salad, goats cheese & walnuts and Green beans, lardons, almonds & anchovy butter) and amazing dessert. We shared proposal stories, birthing stories (a couple which have terrified me) and laughed more than I have in a long time. All in all it was a fabulous night. I think the beautiful Birthday girl enjoyed it too! Then, Saturday lunch it was off to 3 BAGS FULL in Richmond which was great. ( http://www.threebagsfullcafe.com.au/ ) It was super busy so we were told we would have to wait a little. Our coffees came quickly and luckily my gorgeous friend and I had a lot to catch up on and the hour wait on food went past fast as we chatted away.

I must say the coffee was fabulous! I wanted to order a second one but I'm trying to cut back so I drank the 1st one very slowly.. hehehe I ordered pumpkin fritters which were delicious and worth the wait. I will be going back for sure on a quieter day so I can try some more things from the menu. The breakfasts sounded divine!

Then it was an impromptu stop on High Street at STUZZI for another coffee and catch up (see, lucky I didn't have a second one at 3 BAGS FULL). All in all a fabulous day- but it wasn't done yet. I headed home and a couple of Aunts and Uncles came for dinner. Mum cooked a moussaka which was so so yummy and had grilled some fish and vegetables to perfection. After dinner I pulled out a box of old black and white photos and loved seeing my Grandfather's brother remember moments of his history. It was precious to listen to stories about the photos or to be told who was in them and about these people I'd never met. So so wonderful.

It was refreshing to see that men, once upon a time, dressed like MEN. In suits and hats and perfectly brill creamed hair! Those were the days. So that was my wonderful weekend full of all my favourite people and things. I wish every weekend was just as fabulous. Love, Angie. L

T R U T H

Nothing I have come across has identified more with me than this. This has happened to me. I am truly blessed and super lucky.

Love Angie.L

A hundred thousand things to do.. and I'm blogging...

I'm a procrastinator. There I said it. It took me a long time to label myself as that- to me it was normal to get distracted on the way to doing something else. No?
At the moment, I have so many things to do.

Our wedding is in 227 days. I still have 1000 things to organise. Stressed.

I work part time at a new job which I need to complete training for (HOURS OF TRAINING) and obviously put in 100% effort. Which is hard when I'm exhausted from all the other things I am doing.

I am trying to also focus on my business (which I'm sad to say is the thing that's suffering the most during this time) FAIL.

I am ebaying. A LOT. For 2 reasons. To clear clutter and unecessary items before the wedding move and to make some extra $$ to put towards it all.. I now have 28 items I need to post. All at the same time. Lesson- do not post more than 10 items at a time.

I am also packing and clearing out 28 years of stuff from my bedroom and my parent's house. Which is emotional. And hard.

ON TOP OF ALL OF THAT...
We are renovating the house we are going to live in. I spent last night (until 11:00pm) sanding woodwork, ready to paint it. I had more dust in my eyes than I thought possible. Back again tonight. On the plus side though, the sooner we do the prep work and painting, the sooner I can do the fun stuff. Like decorating! BEFORE AND AFTER PICS WILL BE POSTED I PROMISE.

So, on this day off, hump day, middle of the week, as I worked out how many things I actually had to cram in to today, I saw this and chuckled. This, for me, is MY truth.

I came across it as, of course I was distracted from something else I was doing..

Happy Wednesday everyone and wish me luck so that I may stay sane through all of this!


Love, a completely overwhelmed Angie.L

Winter Wardrobe

As the days start to get colder and Summer feels like a distant memory (truly, as the last good Summer Melbourne had was about 4 years ago), my wardrobe needs an overhaul. Time for chunky knits, fitted coats, navy blue, ankle boots, and nice thick socks. I also like to add in a little colour to my Winter wardrobe as I feel it makes me happy and cosy! It doesn't ALWAYS have to be B.L.A.C.K Melbournites!


A chunky knit, bold colours and accessories, perfect fun winter outfit!

Opaques and ankle boots- a Winter staple. Loving this coat too.

Animal print. Yes.

Neutrals work amazingly well for Winter too. Look at those pleats!

Scarf it up!

Navy Navy Navy. Love Navy.

Hats in Winter? Oh yeah.

A more casual look, throw in some denim.

Stockings let you wear all your little dresses/skirts even though the weather is colder.

More scarf love. This time draped over the shoulder.

Brights in Winter? Told you it works.

Mix pretty feminine dresses with winter staples. The contrast is awesome.

Another stunning Coat. Yes please.

Have fun in Winter too...

FLORALS IN WINTER?? Uh huh.

My fav. Long slouchy cardis. Mixing grey and neutrals. BLISS.

Oversized. Love.

Dare to play with your Winter pieces and be BRAVE. Layering is the key. I <3 WINTER. Love a cosy Angie.L

It's Oscar time!!

The 2012 Oscars certainly were a GRAND affair.
Wonderful speeches by Meryl Streep and Christopher Plummer made me get goosebumps.
The fashion was stunning.
Here are my favourites...TOP 10..

#10 KATE MARA..
What a beautiful neutral colour. I love the one shouldered drop sleeve, the detail in the fabric, the sweetheart neckline. Her low side up-do is cute and feminine. The only criticism is the lack of accessories. We all know I'm an accessories girl!! Some beautiful drop earrings or a neutral necklace (with some sparkle of course!) would have topped this off beautifully. Apart from that, simply lovely.

#9 GWENYTH

Classic shape. Sharp neutral colour, gorgeous bangle!! I must admit I loved it more once she lost the jacket when she presented but very pretty and sophisticated to say the least. REALLY loving the bangle!

#8 MARIA

Grecian inspired mint green dress. Beautiful! I love the drape of the fabric, I love the pleating detail in the top and the wideset straps. And those earrings! Gorgeous!!!

#7 EMMA

Oh so cute Emma Stone in a luxurious red dress. Not usually a fan of high necklines but Emma pulls this off. Great clutch to match too.

#6 MICHELLE

Another Lady in red. Loving this strapless red dress Michelle is wearing. The little frill waist/hip detail is sweet. Not too sure about the pink clutch. I might have preferred something else but beautiful even with it.

#5 OCTAVIA

This dress was a winner for me. Flattering on her figure, I love the little short sleeves and the beaded detail creates gorgeous curves. I want this dress. BEAUTIFUL. The earrings close up are stunning too.

#4 KRISTEN

I'm a massive fan of this nude/blush colour. I love her effortless hair. The shape of the dress is stunning and the cinched waist works perfectly to show off her great figure. The jewels are perfect and the contrast of the dark nail colour still makes it look young and playful! LOVE LOVE LOVE.

#3 MILA

Oh Mila! You astound me! Look at this stunning Elie Saab creation. The shoulder, the detail, the clutch, the hair, the lip! I love it all! PERFECTION.

#2 PENELOPE

Beautiful colour, beautiful silouette. Reminded me of Jackie O with the off the shoulder neckline. Stunning. Hair and jewellery oozed Old Hollywood Glamour. Perfection.

AND MY FAVOURITE IS.....

#1 GIULIANA

The shape- stunning. The beading and detail looks amazing. The shoulder detail makes a classic dress move into 2012 with a bit of fun and a point of difference. The understated jewels are perfect here as they take nothing away from the dress.
For someone who has just beaten cancer and had a masectomy- Giulia radiates health and beauty. ABSOLUTELY PERFECT.

So those were my top 10....

The one star I was most disappointed with was Angelina. Black? AGAIN?? Red lipstick? AGAIN?? *sigh* She is also wasting away to skin and bones and that is completely NOT sexy. The over the top posing (which was made fun of during the night) also didn't help her this year. C'mon Ange. STEP IT UP!!!

I WONDER IF YOU AGREE...


LOVE (a dressed up) Angie.L