Hi guys!
It’s been a long time, I know, but I do have my reasons. Thank you for your paitence and for continuing to support Keki and Glam. I have now just started a new blog called Everyday, cake. It’s about adventures, travel and life in general but it’s ALSO about fashion and lifestyle and all those other fab things that I adore. So head on over to www.everydaycakeblog.wordpress.com and follow my story there.
Thanks again for your support!
Keki x
yes, yes it is!
especially when it comes to blogging!
please bear with me, i am in the process of potentially starting a new blog. a little less fashion-y, a little more inspirational and life-y in general. as time goes on and situations change, new and interesting things inspire me and i find that it is no longer dresses, heels and bags that are holding my attention and making me excited about life. SO i will dedicate my NEW & EXCITING blog to the things which i am currently loving, thinking about and doing.
i hope you’ll follow me over to my new site and continue to support my work the way you have with Keki and Glam. keep watching this space, for i am yet to launch the new blog but as soon as i do details will be available here.
the future really IS exciting, and this year alone is going to be a crazy ride.
Photo is my own. Feel free to use it and credit me where possible. Thanks!
check out my new page on the blog! click here to see more …..
finally “summer” has arrived!
well, it arrived on saturday and showed it’s face for all of 12 hours before turning grey and overcast once again. this morning i had bootcamp at 6am and it was still dark – not to mention misty and rainy. not summery at all and scarily reminiscent of last year’s non-event of a season.
still, i can’t complain – on this day in three weeks time i will be arriving in Bangkok! my first proper visit to Asia and…
I CAN’T WAIT!!!
my excitement levels are at an all time high, so much so that i actually might start packing …. TODAY! the weather should be in the mid to high thirties so a good 10 or more degrees warmer than here, and humid. time to start planning some outfits i think….
what i’m wearing here: top – thrifted Balinese lace [$2 to be exact!]; skirt – handmade by a friend; patent black sandals – Kmart [old]; bag – gift from Glam; cuff – gift from mum & dad; rings – Equip & YSL; necklace – gift from Neil.
my 27th birthday celebrations were awhile ago now, but i thought i’d do a quick post about it now anyway because a] i have only JUST taken outfit photos today and am yet to edit them and upload them so they could be awhile away yet and b] because my party ideas might inspire some of your own and so what’s the harm in that!
i didn’t have a theme party per se, but i did make it a ‘girls only’ bash with the intention of having all my girlfriends come to my house and let their hair down, drink punch out of jam jars and dance up a storm, that sort of thing. everyone brought a plate which i would highly recommend, especially if you are like me and on a budget and/or lose your paitence quickly with fiddly finger food. i did all the decorations myself with the help of an incredible team of friends who showed up early and let me delegate decoration-putting-up jobs to them without hesitation. i cannot thank them enough for that – if it weren’t for them the party would have been two hours in and i still wouldn’t have been completely ready. it really did take a load off.
anyways, heres some pics to tide the blog over until i can get my outfit photos up – hopefully asap!
i created a very basic photo booth from an idea i saw on Pinterest [of course] … i didn’t have the budget to actually make a cardboard or wooden backdrop so i made a ‘streamers wall’ and just set up a chair with various dress up stuff in a box e.g. animal masks, silly glasses, leis, etc. i used ‘blackboards’ – made from empty photo frames and blackboard paint – as signs to point my guests in the right direction for food, drinks and photos.
the food was all easy-to-grab yet delicious [and i tried to keep it semi-healthy where i could!] – we had white-choc-dipped-strawberries, fruit and marshamallow kebabs, cherry tomatoes w/ feta and basil on skewers, heart-shaped watermelon cubes and pretzels to name a few!
quite a few of my friends couldn’t make it due to living in different cities/countries, so i tried to “include” them by stringing up photos around the main party area. other decorations included lanterns, fairy lights and balloons hanging from strings on the ceiling [rather than expensive helium balloons].
my team of lovely ladies! yes, i am truly blessed to know so many beautiful, genuine, lovely girls – they are all so gorgeous, on the inside and out!
photo-boothing it with my Anna from Sweet Harlow!
what i wore: feather/skull/spear necklace from Sweet Harlow Boutique; leather panelled dress by Bardot @ Myer Basement [Melbourne – highly recommend this store!]; teal ankle booties from Style Tread.
outfit photos soon i promise!
xo
this week has been, well, one of those weeks. one of those weeks. it’s been fine, nothing drastic has happened, nothing major or out of the ordinary … BUT … nothing has gone particularly swimmingly, if you will.
before you cut me off and close this tab, hear me out. hear me out especially if you are a 20-something female. actually, here me out especially if you are a female of any age, race or religion.
because i’m gonna discuss why being Wonder Woman is damn hard work, even at the best of times.
she’d agree with me!
this week has been a torrent of things not going as well as they should.
it started on monday morning when i received an email from the accommodation booking website that i’d used to book one of our hotels (one of seven!) in Thailand. despite the fact that we’d paid the full amount of our stay to the hotel, they’d discovered that actually they were fully booked and could not accept our booking and would refund us our money, but first might they recommend another hotel for us to stay at. i checked out said “recommended” hotel only to find a torrent (love that word) of TERRIBLE reviews from previous guests, a rating of ‘one star’ and the fact that the electricity is only on for a couple of hours each night. that would have been fine had the original hotel we booked not been a 4.5 star beautiful resort with swimming pools and a bar and a one-minute walk to the beach. a refund was arranged, and FINALLY (after hours of review-reading, price-comparing, umm-ing and ahh-ing) i managed to locate a new, half-decent-looking bungalow for us to stay in. disaster avoided….. or was it?
next up i needed to book a train to take us overnight from Bangkok to the small village of Chumpon from which we would catch a ferry to the island of Ko Tao. feeling like a true Thailand-backpacker for getting our accommodation all booked, i entered the time/date of the train i wanted and …… it was fully booked. ok, not to worry, i started looking at alternatives and soon found a day time express train. voila! ok, we wouldn’t be able to sleep the whole way down to the south of Thailand but instead we could marvel at the scenery and arrive in Chumpon mid-afternoon, ready for a night on the beautiful island of Ko Tao. credit card details in, train booked and paid for then …. hang on, no, it can’t be …. the last ferry leaves an hour BEFORE our train arrives. what the ….. ? ok, don’t panic there must be another one. yep, at 11pm that night. two weary travellers experiencing South East Asia for the first time, desperate to get to their first island and having to wait around in a small village for 8 hours? i don’t think so. SO looks like we are staying in Chumpon for the night. i booked us a nice villa and called it good, we’ll catch the first ferry out to Ko Tao the following morning.
so finally Thailand was all sorted and it was looking like i could relax before my big weekend which – trust me – was a very good thing considering neil and i were registered to ride in an 8Okm cycle race this saturday. despite knowing how hard the ride would be i was excited at the prospect of achieving something which in my books, was a huge goal. then on tuesday, neil called me at work. with bad news. the accommodation booking website we’d used to booked a hotel room for two nights for the duration of the cycle race had emailed him to tell him that they too had overbooked us for the weekend. (i should add – this is a different website to the one we used for our Thailand accommodation). they too had suggested another hotel to stay at …. only this one was a considerable amount more per night. we quickly added up what we would potentially be spending over the course of the weekend. it was A LOT. with Thailand just four weeks away, spending so much couldn’t be justified. so we accepted a refund from the hotel we thought we’d booked, and consequently pulled out of the race.
i was feeling upset knowing that i wouldn’t be achieving my long-planned goal, and a few other things had made me feel a bit emotional that same day but i tried to push that aside as i left work in the afternoon to go and get my Hep A and Typhoid shots in preparation for Thailand. as i was driving to the doctor’s clinic i had a freak out. i quickly pulled off the main road and into a little rural lane and texted neil to declare i simply couldn’t go through with getting needles stabbed into my arm and then promptly burst out crying. yes, this happened. and yes, i am 27 years old.
as you can see, none of these things are all that major or life threatening (well, potentially if i don’t go and get my jabs …. but i am, i am, i’ll go next week), but they added to a list of other niggly little things that occurred (or didn’t occur) throughout the week such as:
– not eating as healthily as i should have
– not exercising as much as i should be
– not saving as much moolah as i should be
– staying up too late on school nights
– eating take out instead of cooking
– not keeping on top of my ever-growing pile of laundry
– not sorting out various bills and emails that require attention
– drinking far too much coffee and not keeping up with my teeth-whitening treatments
– not cleaning the fish tank …. or putting clothes away ….. or tidying up in general
here’s the thing though right: as women we are always, always trying to be wonderful. we want to accomplish as much as possible all the time – usually whilst wearing sky high heels and a cute dress too!
but sometimes, sometimes you just gotta let it go, realise that it can’t always all be done, all at once. take a breather and quit feeling guilty because your bathroom’s a mess and your eating pizza for dinner instead of brown rice and steamed veggies.
this week has passed me by like a whirlwind of plans-being-made, plans-to-be-made and well, plans-being-promptly-unmade. to be honest there hasn’t been much i’ve been able to do about any of it, except take a deep breath and move on; try my best to rectify whatever it is that hasn’t worked out, and keep a smile on my dial even in moments where i have wanted to throw my computer out the window and/or punch something or someone (in the arm, softly, i promise).
i’m never gonna come close to being Wonder Woman (for starters i don’t have the boobs for the costume …. or the hair, come to think of it) and my life might always be a whirlwind of half-made / un-made / to-be-made plans. and unanswered emails. but that’s ok. repeat after me – THAT. IS. OK. being Wonder Woman might just be overrated anyhow!
i quite enjoy my whirlwind of a life.
the reason i posted this was because (according to my Facebook home page) there’s a fair few of you Wonder-Woman-wannabes out there – it’s not just me – and i wanted to remind you all that it’s ok if not everything goes the way it should each day, or week, or month, or even year. And it’s more than ok, when things get too whirlwind-y, to say “ahh well….”, get changed into your comfy pants, pour yourself a wine and blob out on the couch for a night reading fashion blogs or watching ‘shark vs. dog’ videos on YouTube.
which is exactly what i am gonna do tonight.
no Wonder Women allowed.
i am a mad keen pinterest-er so i figured, why not share my favourite weekly pins with you guys?
here’s my top five this week:
i am always, always hoping it will be this kinda day!
a perfect beach wedding or special occasion. this – to me – is really perfection on all levels.
i love french! and it’s Movember here in new zealand so my mister is growing a mo’ in support of men’s health. enchante!
this picture gives me goosebumps. i really have no words, i just love everything about it.
i ADORE this outfit and wish i had someplace i could wear something like this too. i have been after a tutu for some time now but haven’t come across the right one by any means. if it should one day happen, i could see myself getting married in something like this – just add a pair of vintage western boots and voila! {i would LOVE a country wedding and already plan on riding a horse down the aisle so it makes sense really}!
i’ve just realised two out of five photos have stirred up feelings of wedding-ness in me but trust me – i’m certainly NOT hinting at anything, i don’t have any surprises for you and i usually am NOT a wedding obsessed type of gal! it’s pure coincidence…. or is it? just kidding… or am i?
xoxo
ok, ok it’s wednesday already i know, but here’s an update of what i did this weekend!
– first and foremost, i cut my hair. all. off. and i absolutely LOVE it! i had my friend maxx do it at the salon she works in. for anyone wondering, it’s called Vanity and is in Takapuna, Auckland. i highly recommend maxx as a stylist, she actually listens and has a great vision for really edgy, cool cuts. well, i love mine anyway!
– went out for black doris plum margaritas and mexi-tapas at Mexico in Britomart with one of my besties who is about to move to Sydney, boooo 😦 Mexico was awesome as usual though!
– cycled 32km in “training” for my “race” not this saturday but next, with my man and our friend Karen. i found the distance/terrain easy but couldn’t shake the fear of being hit by one of the speeding cars that kept flying past us without a hint of slowing down…
– went to ‘Art in the Dark’, an event put on by the Auckland Art Gallery on friday evening. it was awesome! we wandered around a park in Ponsonby with swarms of other people, in the pitch black darkness, marveling at some really awesome art installations.
ok, so it wasn’t the busiest of weekends and it flew by as usual. looking forward to a jam-packed weekend this weekend too though along with some birthday celebrations, delicious food and catch ups with long lost friends.
xoxo
Keki and Glam 