while you were sleeping

this week, while you were sleeping, i was up at work. conquering my first ever week of night shift. i decided to diarise my experience seeing this was to be a great challenge for me; in my normal life i'm up with the sun and down with the moon, no compromise.

sunday in preparation:
i tried to stay up until midnight, knowing that the following day of travel would be a difficult yet necessary tiresome day. by 10:30 i was getting anxious knowing that my alarm was set for 4:30am so triple checked that i had packed everything and got ready for bed. made it in bed by almost 12. win!

monday:
4:30 alarm goes off, slept well, still wish i had more.
5:30 an hour wait at the airport for the plane, buy two trashy magazines to occupy myself. board at 6:40.
7:40-ish wake just in time for breakfast on the plane, eat it, sleep.
9:30 arrive in sunny broome. i wish i could just stay here and laze on cable beach. its almost torture to go and check in at the heli-port (is that even what its called?) leave within the hour for the 2 hour chopper ride out to the rig.
13:00 arrive on the rig, a little too amped to sleep, am skittish walking around unpacking and then moving things from draw to cupboard, cupboard to draw. decide to shower and pretend its night time. have a little nap, awake at 18:20 and get ready for dinner. its strange having dinner at 'breakfast time'.
19:00 head to work and arrange my week.
22:55 travelling ok, have decided to run a midnight yoga class from tomorrow night which i am excited about. unsure as to whether i feel anxious or excitable, perhaps both.
3:00 have hit the wall, decide to nap, awake worse than when i went to sleep. struggle through the next few hours snacking on cereal, fruit and water.
hit the hay at 7:30, setting the alarm for 4pm...


the next few nights followed a similar schedule: wake up at 2-3pm and catch the last few hours of sunlight, have dinner and work through to midnight. run my yoga class for the guys finishing work (they work 12-12 here on the rig) and struggle through the early hours of the morning before sleeping from 7:30.

amazingly, i'm a lot less emotional than i expected. yes, my fatigue levels are sky high, but there is a newfound respect for just how difficult this type of work can be. i imagine it much worse where a high level of attention to detail is necessary, all those doctors and nurses, i salute you!

some photos of my experience: 

midnight yoga on the heli deck: so cool! 

me looking and feeling less than amazing before bed time

my bed after the lovely cleaners came through. made me go awww!

there is a light that never goes out

its funny how fashion comes and goes and then comes back again. looking at the latest bright and colourful and crazy designs from sydney fashion week has made me nostalgic about some of the things i adore and have adored for some time. so i wrote a little list and thought i'd share it with you dear friends... some things i think i will never get over include:

skulls, maybe an occupational hazard from all those efforts of studying anatomy? and perhaps something to do with my pirate obsession

studs and spikes, from my years as a wanna-be punk (at the time i was certain i was a punk)

brightly coloured hair, see above, and also my hair idol lauren conrad. gee thanks LC!!

the fact that i think i should be a hat person, and try on hats to have people tell me they look good, only to never wear them... from alex mack?? she was a hat person, i never thought i was as cool as her!

painting my nails a different colour every few days. i have rules: i can never use the same colour twice in a row, unless its black; and i can never let them become chipped to the point of looking unkempt (i have been known to be out and about and purchase polish remover to avoid this)

fashionable shoes that are impractical, rarely comfortable but oh so beautiful/interesting

consequently i have over thirty different nail polish colours, at least two bottles of nail polish remover, numerous clothing items with skulls or studs or skulls made from studs (the best combination), and have coloured my hair blue recently (peach or purple could be next, although i swore i was through with unnaturally coloured hair and threw out my hawaiian blue fudge). not to mention the shoes that i own and constantly seek to add to my collection.

see some things i am currently crushing on:

see more things i love on my pinterest.
side note: i rocked double denim last week. denim shirt, and jeans. and i loved it! i was once a child of the late 80's/early 90's and she lives on deep down!

ipad sleeping bag

after i received this book for my birthday from some ever-so-thoughtful girlfriends i have been thinking non-stop about all the things i wish to make from it, and this just happened to be the first. i have a cover for my mac book, (which these days rarely leaves the house given that i have a more compact version in my ipad) i figured i'd make myself a pretty cover for my ipad.

seeing the ipad is a lot more compact than the measurements supplied by the book, i had to measure it, and only ended up buying 1/2 metre of each printed fabric. i went with green seeing as i have a green screen protector. my lovely sister supplied me with the cotton wadding as she had some left over from a project she made earlier this year.

first, i measured and cut the fabric and wadding, and sandwiched them together.

then i sewed lots and lots of rows of straight stitching to get the quilted effect. (this took forever! and i was lazy and only loosely measured the lines so they look a little more 'rustic')

then i sewed the bias binding around the edge, and added the trim. and hand stitched the press studs onto the inside.

 

voila! i am really pleased with how it turned out. and love the colours!

(please excuse the fuzzy photos, i took them on my phone and didn't fix them up!)

you got nailed

wowee its been a while between posts, stress and being insanely busy are the main things to blame. when your heart's not in it, you can't force your head into it! anyways i'm back with a little manicure post, inspired by this which i saw last week and instantly wanted to try.

black is my go-to nail colour when i am unsure of what to choose, or if i need to simplify things (lately i've been rocking lots of glitter) so that had to be my base colour. and instead of doing every nail with gold i just did one finger on each hand.

while trawling the isles of bunnings on the weekend looking for diy inspirations i found a pack of 50 (yes 50!!) sheets of gold leaf. i was so impressed, i only used 1/4 of one sheet so have SO MANY more to use!!

i have to say, having never played with gold leaf before, everyone says how delicate it is but i had no idea. it is so fragile, i recommend not to have the air-con on or too much air flow cause it WILL fly away from you! and be careful not to get it stuck to your other nails if they are tacky when you're using it...

anyway here is the end result, i am wildly impressed!

happy leap day!

i kind of just wated to publish something on feb 29th seeing as it'll be 4 years before it happens again and who knows where or what i'll be doing then! just know we all worked today for free, only 365 days are actually accounted for (my very calculative accountant boyfriend asked to be paid for the extra day, his work said no). the good things about leap years: olympics (need i say more?!), everyone who was born on the 29th actually gets to celebrate on their day of birth (would you go 28th or 1st for the other years?), and you get a whole extra day to accomplish something (those don't come for free!).

i hope you have had a wonderful day

(pictures: flickr, google)

favourites list - oscars fashion

i'm not really one to formally comment on fashion, seeing as i believe everyone is entitled to their own style and choices when it comes to expressing yourself through your dress. however, seeing this is a favourites list of mine, i'm more than happy to comment on what i thought were the best dresses on the red carpet at this years oscars.

kristin wiig.
love her hair a little darker and longer and think that this dress fits like a glove and looked just stunning on her. if i were going to a formal event this is the look i would try to emulate.

michelle williams.
that colour! michelle is such a beautiful girl and normally dresses a little more conservatively than this, however i am loving this sidestep from her usual style. i love her hair a little blonder and think that pairing a pink clutch was a great idea.

jessica chastain.
this dress is remeniscant of what beyonce wore to a costume gala a few years ago and struggled to walk in, yet looks more comfortable and she could actually walk the red carpet so full points to her! at first i wished she'd done something different with her hair but its grown on me, the dress speaks volumes so the hair was kept simple.

sarah hyland.
this is such gorgeous, flowy, ethereal perfection! the colour looks amazing on her and i love the gathered detail at the hips. i wouldn't change a thing!

glenn close.
i adore this outfit! i think its age appropriate, suits her and makes her body look incredible. she sure lets the fishtail style work for her pulling in her waist giving her the ultimate hourglass shape. the colour, the matching blazer, the hair, make up, awesome!

milla jovovich.
old hollywood glamour at its absolute best! she posed the hell out of this dress but why wouldn't you? if i were getting married tomorrow i'd do this exact look, the make up and hair go perfectly and she looks classy, glamourous and all round stunning!

i could probably go on and on so i'll stop there, these are definitely my favourites and my 'go to' outfits for whenever my brother-in-law (sort of) gets us all invited to the oscars. he's a film director, and i'm sure i made chloe promise to take me when they inevitably get invited!

(photos: huffington post and gofugyourself)

storage solution: jewelry display

so, it turns out my crazy busy lifestyle of late has been put on complete hold by a throat infection and a head cold that have developed in the past 3 days. i was given the week off by the doctor and told to rest, and only now do i understand just how important that rest is after my condition has deteriorated in the last 24 hours (i know that sounds overly dramatic, i intended it that way!).

when told to have the week off work my immediate thoughts were "great, diy time!!" so i have been pottering (lazily) and working on a few bits and pieces to pass the time. i must say, i find it realy difficult to fill days off with enough things to do, i am used to working 12 or more hour days so the idea of 5 full days at home is a little bit of a nightmare for me! anyway the first project i worked on this week was a way to store my jewelry. i wanted to have it in one place, and easy to see to make the getting ready process a little easier.

i used my left over cork tiles from this project a few weeks ago, got a few sheets of pretty paper and some drawing pins that i already had in the stationary draw. the most expensive part was the 3m velcro picture hangers, but at $7, they were well worth it.

firstly, i measured and trimmed the paper...

then i pinned it onto the cork, you could always glue it, but i like the temporary nature of the whole thing. plus i like that i could get a different colour paper when i feel like it and update the whole look for less than $3...

then, measure and place the pins for the 'hangers'...

meanwhile, attach the picture hangers, and stick to the wall. then go ahead and hang the jewelry! i made 2 different boards, one to put my rings and long necklaces on and the other for shorter necklaces and bracelets...

i stuck them up inside my cupboard, they're not on show but i like that it makes them a part of my outfits by having them right next to my clothing.