Vivid Festival Sydney 2015

Hello powerful people, 

I know, I know. If you knew or you did a little light reading you would know that Vivid Sydney ran from the 22nd of May to the 8th of June this year. So you might be asking, as would be expected, why I'm so late in sharing any kind of experience with you. Well, you see, the following shots were taken on my dad's fancy DSLR camera, and so I was restricted by this information. To gain access to these pictures, I had to be patient and wait until my dad was willing to surrender his SD card to me. Ever since the Memory Card Incident, my dad has been excessively possessive about any property of his that I might be able to erase or damage, which isn't as funny as he thinks it is. In my defence though, I was in possession of the camera most of the night anyway, so you'd think he would've been more careful with that. 

Back on topic, however, the Vivid festival is a major winter festival, predominantly based in the Sydney CBD which intersects art, commerce and technology. It is known as an 18 day celebration of lights, music and ideas. Unfortunately for me, this year, my family and I decided quite last minute to drive to Sydney and see this annual spectacle. This resulted in us only being able to see the very shallow layer of the festival. Had we planned in advance, we could have had the opportunity to witness many more creative performances and showcases. 

This shot was taken behind the Martin Place cenotaph, which I unfortunately did not get a good shot of. We did gain access to the Canon booth at the event, and the lovely people working there offered to print out a poster size print of one of our photos for no charge. My dad elected the following photo and it is now in the common study room. Rest assured that everything that was offered to the general public, in Martin Place, we took advantage of.

The following photo is of some interactive displays that were set up. If you squint enough, you will be able to see some kids and people touching the lit up bubbles. When you touched these, a sound erupted from the speakers. In effect, these bubbles enabled the general public to be connected through their creation of sound and music. Utterly romantic, exempt the children.

The following series of photos is of the same building, through its pattern of designs. During this pattern, I managed to throw a strop and left my family to do my own thing, so all credit of these photos go to my father. These were taken at the fitting Museum of Contemporary Art, and are possibly my favourite reminders of just how breath taking the night was. It was also the host of the necessary overpriced cafe that every event has to have, so kudos for that pretty building.

Some fleeting moments of the ever changing, comic displays of art displayed on the Sydney Opera House.

This following shot is just of the Circular Quay. Although not impressive, I just wanted to show you guys a generalised photo of how many of the building (and boats) were also lit up. 

Oh how I wish I had gone to Carriageworks. It hosted most of the music side of the displays and other people shots of it looked flawless. Now I may have also visited Argyle Cut, or I could be getting that mixed up with Sydney Festival. Either way, the night and the sights were beautiful. 

Much love,

Duchess

Crazy About Stripes!

Hello guys!

So I haven't really shared anything fashion related on this site with you yet, and believe me when I say that there is quite a lot to share. Although my closet is not vast and expansive, as I am struggling with the budget of a student, I am still working my way to creating my own style. My parents, of course, instantly would look at an ensemble I might've put together at some point and cringe (bless them for saving me months of embarrassment and regret), but it gave me a lot of satisfaction when I put together an outfit that I got a nod of approval to.

One 'trend' that I, unintentionally, can't get away from are stripes. Striped anything, really, but predominantly tops. The thing is, I won't go out and look for a striped top to purchase - I just seem to have an appeal for them. It's even got to the point where I've had to tell my friends to take any striped items out of my hands if I ever get my clutches on them. They just seem like an easy, essential and casual item - don't they? Or is that just me?

Either way, we always seem to end up together. Instead of ignoring this trend, I have decided to embrace it by taking style inspiration for the (many) striped tops I own. So here goes nothing, stripe-y looks I love:

Alexa Chung

Here we have ULTIMATE girl crush and style inspiration Alexa Chung looking impeccable.

Rihanna

Candice Swanepoel

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

Miranda Kerr

Naomi Watts

Olivia Parmelo

Adore this look worn by Olivia Parmelo. Where can I find this cardigan?! LOVE.

Jourdan Dunn

Emma Stone

Now to the queen of stripes herself. I've always been a major fan of all Karlie Kloss does, and she was mentioned in one of my very early posts. I think she is the most relatable and easy to like of the mainstream models in our commercial world today. When she wants to be casual, she's effortlessly chic. When she wants to be formal, she looks absolutely stunning (literally). Anyway, it gives me great pleasure to adorn you with these pictures, which are the outfits I attempt to recreate whenever I wear stripes. Which is, quite often.

Although not personal, I just thought it was a nice way to introduce you to a very small aspect of my style. If you liked it, let me know. Are you a stripy or dotty person?

Much love,

Duchess

Anxiousness and New Lives

How are you?

Today I'm going to be talking about something that I know would have affected most of you at some point. Mental illness. More specifically - anxiety disorders.

To anyone suffering with a mental disorder, you are one badass figure because there is nothing more terrifying than battling with your own mind every single day. 

Staggering statistics show that in the last 12 months alone, 15.4% of Australians between the ages of 16 and 24 will have experienced at least one anxiety disorder. Did you know that 1.3 million Australians have experienced at least one anxiety disorder in the last 12 months? One out of people young people are, or average, meant to be suffering from an anxiety disorder from the ages of 18 to 24. Only 18% of women, and 11% of men who ever suffer from an anxiety disorder are willing to find help for themselves, or accept the fact that they have a mental illness. These are absolutely mind boggling statistics.

I have had many friends who have openly admitted to suffering from fits of panic and anxiousness, and while it does not affect my perspective of them in many such ways, it confuses me as to why mental disorders are such a taboo topic. With so many people suffering from them on a daily basis, and majority of them being young adults, surely this doesn't have to be such an uncomfortable topic to deal with. Living with a mental illness is already a struggle, living with it in denial would be an unforgiving struggle, but not even being able to talk to someone because of the social stigma that surrounds it would be such a burden.

What really makes me uncomfortable or just plain frustrated is when 'adults' or 'grown ups' tell us that we "haven't even had the life experience to know what kind of emotion depression is," or, "How can you have started to feel this way when you haven't even been faced with the real world yet?". Really? Come on. You spend days criticising our constantly moving lives, and look down on us for utilising technology that is being evolved every day but can't imagine why we might find it hard to keep up. You of all people should be able to draw parallels between our 'lazy generation' and our new lifestyle. Yes, I'll be the first to admit that keeping up with everything is exhausting, and I would say that all these social expectations and new stresses have been put on us by our new lifestyles.

Another thing I would just like to point out - mental disorders are not adjectives and they should never ever be generalised. This is someone's brain, their personality, their mind that you're discussing.

However, our world is evolving, and we have to evolve with it. Anxiety is not a phase, it's not a joke, and it's something that is incredibly hard to live with. I'm so lucky to not be suffering from any kind of chronic anxiety disorder but I have heard so many incidents of them, affecting my personal life. The people I love are everyday getting hurt by this mental illness and, in effect, themselves. We cannot brush this aside, and we cannot blame ourselves. I'm so happy to be a part of the generation I am a part of. We are going to accomplish things we haven't even thought of, and we are going to all live a life worth telling tales about.

I really did get the best of both worlds. I started growing with my wooden trains and my picture books but I grew up with ever advancing technology. This reminds me of a conversation I had with my piano teacher where she told me that by my age, half of her year had fallen pregnant and gotten married. She then went on to describe the abundance of garbage they teach us at school now. I sat and took it, until she told me that I should be living with a man of my own and having children, by this age, at which point I put my foot down. I told her blatantly that they taught us so much at school now, simply because they have so much to teach us. Also that having a quality education is much more important to me than settling down right now. What I said made her reconsider her arguments, before she silently nodded. We are a new era.

Getting off topic (may have to change this title of this post now). Attached below are sites I have found helped when I, myself, have had a minor anxiety attack, which I have occasionally suffered from. Not an anxiety attack, more like a panicky fit:

• http://weavesilk.com/
• http://interactive.usc.edu/projects/cloud/flowing/
• http://whatcolourisit.scn9a.org/ 
• http://29a.ch/sandbox/2011/neonflames/ (personal favourite - you are able to create your own galaxy)

I also find sleeping calms my nerves so here's a site that allows me to know when I should fall asleep guaranteed to wake up feeling better the next day: 

• http://sleepyti.me

Stay safe, guys. You can get in contact with me through the comments below. If you want to talk about ANYTHING, leave your email down below and I'll get in contact with you. 

Much love,

Duchess

Bedroom Inspiration Through the Ages...

Hey guys!

So for a while now I've been trying to redo my room. As I live with my whole family, however, I have to run every decision by them before I can act on it, and so far they're not budging. We moved from a cosy, three bedroom duplex into this bigger, boxier house and, lo and behold, I was given the opportunity to design my room. By design I simply mean, because I was moving from a larger room with more storage to a smaller room with less storage, I was able to design and pick my own new storage and choose where all my furniture went. Unfortunately, when I moved into this new house, I had no idea what I wanted to do with it and had no inspiration. So I went to furniture shops and decided to get the most boring pieces of furniture I could possible get. Also, to paint one wall a muted green.

Do I regret my decision? If I had known I would get bored of it so quickly, I would have much rather let my parents design the room.

Anyway, now I'm stuck in a boring room, with mis-matching furniture and not a lot of leg room. The only thing I would keep would be my table, but even then, it's a sore thumb in a room with whites and metallic (why?!), while it sits there with its wooden doors. I don't even know why I picked the furniture - flat packed drawers and a standing up combination - never did I like it, and never will I like it.

So a few months after we'd settled in, I started to brainstorm ideas on what I would design my room as when I got the chance to or, if worst came to worst, what I would design my home like when I moved out.

My first phase was my 'dark and moody stage', as I like to call it. I wanted to have dark furniture and I wanted my rooms to be painted in a very dark beige. What I wanted to get out of this, I think, was a feeling of warmth and cosiness. Throw cushions were the most desirable, and I just thought that this room was everything I didn't have, because all I had was cold and sterile. I took inspiration from Aria Montgomery's (of Pretty Little Liars) room, because I thought it was amazing (for future reference, although I don't watch the show anymore, and I was never really a fan - my favourite Liars are Spencer and Emily).

Next came my neutrals stage. While I still loved wood and darker colours, I was now delving into the world of muted and neutral colours and colour palettes that didn't have to be plain creams or whites. I still reference this stage because I think it was around this time that I found out what colours worked really magic together, and what colours did not. I also began to like lighter woods, and more spacious rooms which was a direct clash with my other phase - in which I wanted small and dark. I had a lot of inspiration for this stage but my largest was Olive Pendergast's (from Easy A) room. It was around this time, as well, that I started developing my mad lady crush on Emma Stone - what a woman!

The next stage was my experimentation with colours. I loved this stage so, so much! I found out what colours I like and where I like them, and more importantly what I actually wanted. It was also around this time that I love myself in the worlds of other bloggers and Youtubers. You'll completely understand, then, when I say that a major inspiration for me was Zoe Sugg's (Zoella) flat in Brighton. It was a dream for me - everything about it, from what I could gather from her vlogs anyway. I do enjoy her content, but every time she walked into another room of her flat I was blown away by how much I loved her decor (except for maybe her dining table and chairs - they're cute, but not really my colours). I freakin' loved everything about her flat, so when she moved into her house, you can only imagine my excitement. It was met with lots of ooh's and ah's. I just really like how she's done her own things, and her little family are so cute! Although not a bedroom, I just wanted to have this photo to appreciate the interior of the living room.

http://www.zoella.co.uk/2014/07/interior-peak-inside-my-living-room.html

This, however, was her bedroom in her flat, and it is very nice. Simplistic and clean, but very elegant.

The next stage is the stage I'm currently in, in which I love minimalist design and interior. However, not boring and plain, but with a sense of homeliness. I'm loving copper and brass, and I'm loving plants and flowers. I still love dark wood, but not all the time chunky, hard numbers. Also, I'm loving exposed brick and white wash and I think that hard wood is the best type of flooring there is (especially when it's dark). I like big windows and unique little decorations. I just love it! It's hard to explain, but if you want a big source of understanding, head to my Pinterest where you will find examples of everything I find appealing. Attached below is of a bedroom I love love love.

http://gravity-gravity.tumblr.com/post/106269301333/source-derek-swalwell

I also gather inspiration from bloggers like Young House Love, who are inspirational to people in all walks of life. Such an inspiring and gorgeous couple. What are your plans for furniture and decoration? Leave it in the comments below.

Much love,

Duchess

Bucketlist #3

Hello hello hello.

If you guys haven't noticed, I've been doing some tidying up around and about my blog. I aim to go through all my content and tidying up everything I've missed or made errors to. The next few posts are probably going to be quite chatty as I don't have much to report back on, or any other remotely interesting things to share with you all. However, I did attend a rather lovely light show in my major city, which I took LOTS of snaps of, which I should be able to show you in the near future. Just updating you with another bucketlist today though.

21. Announce my first pregnancy to my family in a really clever way

22. See the Northern Lights

23. Have an awe inspiring wedding shoot

24. Help someone release an album (of music)

25. Completely redo my room / furnish and decorate my house

26. Complete a course on something I am 100% purely interested in, and not just do something because of the money (in addition to a course I genuinely find interesting and can get somewhere with... I do want to be successful too!)

27. Take my parents on a holiday

28. Have a couple of days without any interaction from the outside world

29. Travel alone (even if just to one country, just to experience complete solitude)

30. Run a non-anonymous blog one day where I write about whatever the heck I want

Much love,

Duchess