Fashion-able

 Leafie + Lize have made a pact to stop day dreaming, and start doing. We like talking about fun things, but we weren't spending a lot of time actually doing them. Big Waste. Since we live in big ole Sydney town, we have decided to make the most of the places and events that we might not be able to go to forever.

When you live here it's easy to get stuck in your bubble and do the same things, see the same people. It's easy to complain about the traffic, public transport and the wanky city types. Starting from approximately 2.5 weeks ago, we're doing all the things that take our fancy, no matter if we have to go to work the next day, or can't sleep in on the weekend, or require us to find parking. ew.

Our first big event adventure was to go to Sydney Fashion Festival. One of us had been before, one of us hadn't. It's basically the fashion festival for us normal people. The chance for us to feel like we are part of the fashion pack, even though most of us are far from it. In fashion speak "it appeals directly to consumers". Thanks for that.

We went to the opening gala night, which was a retrospective of the last 15 years in Aus fash. Our brains went into overdrive.

We loved
The complete sensory overload – in the first 10 minutes we were nudging each other and had that wide eyed, open mouthed look. It was totally NOT fashionista behaviour. You must play it cool, darrrrling. 
Everything caught our eyes. The clothes, the lights, the flashing cameras, the famous peeps in the front row opposite. It was a whirlwind of colours and elaborate details that just worked. PLUS, the music makes you want to strut.
It was also super fun watching the photographic pack at the end of the runway. Like a hungry pack of wolves they would flash-flash-flash-flash at the models like their life depended on it. Once she had turned they relaxed and looked completely bored. And repeat.

What was weird
That most girls in the audience who were not catwalk models would try to emulate catwalk models – this made for a very strange experience for the observer.
Why would you try to emulate a six foot beauty who does this for her job when you are a 5 foot girl next door? Surely you are setting yourself up for a major fail. There were over sized stilettos and complicated outfits everywhere you looked. There was even a set with photographers and industrial fans where you could get your photo taken!(For a fee - of course). Here we saw an average looking teenage girl with braces staring down the lense, giving the cameraman bedroom eyes. She was a cross between a model in Dolly Magazine and a Ralph hussy. Wrongo.

Who we saw
One half of us is a major gossip pages lover. Was born like this, don't hate me. There was Kate Waterhouse who looked like a lollypop head on heels, that were so grotesquely high she couldn't walk without holding onto something.
The coolest part was seeing all the designers in the front row. Akira, Collette Dinnigan, Wayne Cooper, Jayson Brunsdon. It was really interesting to watch their reactions to their outfits. Total poker face. Except WC who whispered to his wife when he didn't like something from another designer.

What's in your secret garden?

My sister and I were discussing the topic of vegetable patches the other day. Growing your own organics, saving the planet and all that jazz. I posed her the question “do you reckon gardening is becoming more popular with the younger generations today or is it just me?”

She paused then looked at me blankly and replied, “you’re getting old* – gardening is not cool”

I’m yet to be convinced, Ashleigh. There’s something inherently rewarding about growing your own veges. And with the ever increasing trends of going green, I think more young’ns will be reaping what they sow.

My love, who I will refer to now as ‘Owbags’, tells me that it’s all about self sufficiency. He says that it’s rewarding in the way that you don’t have to rely on massive corporations to live. For those of you who know Owbags, you will agree that this is a typical Owbags comment.

One thing that I do love though is the quality. You can’t get much fresher than picking your dinner from the back yard. You also can’t ignore the fact that you know exactly where it came from.

As we creep closer to spring, our little garden is really starting to return the love that we ever so generously bestowed upon it. Please excuse my gloating below.

*For some reason I feel the need to point out here that I am only 26.

We like to bargain

Fulfilling is a word that springs to mind when I think about our day at the Manly public school markets on Saturday. We had the best sunny smiley day. Our cheeks hurt.

Weekend markets have such a great community atmosphere. For some reason they give us permission to have a good ol’ genuine chat with complete strangers. Because it was voting day, there were plenty of people wandering around, putting off joining the huge queue that snaked through the markets and into the school hall.

leafie + lize made new friends, got a little sunburnt and would have made more money if we didn't spend some of the profits on soy chai lattes and yummy brown rice salads.
 
Our higlights? Ruby, who spent 10 minutes searching through our tin of trinkets. She talked her Dad into buying her a 50c coin purse and some shiny things to keep in it.
 
The other highlight was the rad chick in our photos who bought the ladybird dress. She unashamedly loved the dress and put it on right then and there. She also had a really cool bag.  
 

What is it about old photos?

My mumma has a stack of those old adhesive photo albums that hold memories for her and reminders for my sister and I that she was undeniably lovely.

I often wonder what her thoughts are when the photos were taken and what she was going through in her life at the time.

Whenever I browse through the stack of reminders, I always find myself drawn to the photos of her that reflect my own age. I wonder if she feels the same way about my dad as I do about my love? Did she like her job? What did she dream of?

I wonder if we would have been friends if I wasn’t her daughter and if we were the same age? Would she still be able to offer me the same unfaltering advice but as a friend and not a mumma?

Is it just a given that we think our mums are so unbelievably pretty when they were younger? I wonder if it’s the old photos and the nostalgic charm that makes them ever so dreamy.

My sister and I are in agreeance that photos of us will never look this cool.

To market, to market

leafie + lize are guilty of being hoarders. Lots of things take our fancy, especially second hand clothes, books and shiny trinkets. We are the bower bird in human form, with a never ending collection of bits and pieces that we are saving for a rainy day.

As quarter life has snuck up on us, we have decided it's time to let go, to de-clutter and share some of the shiny things around.

So drumroll please......next Saturday 21st August we are hitting up Manly markets with a little stall of goodies. Ok, truth be told, they are mostly clothes. There is only so much clothing love two closets can take.

Come and visit us and share the pretty things and (fingers crossed) pretty weather. Check the details here.

Mondays

I love Mondays. I love Mondays because I’m free from Monday-itis. That’s right - I have a long weekend. Every weekend.

When I resigned from my last job because I wanted to work less and do more of the things I love, my boss knowingly winked “ohhhhh, you want to have babies don’t you? You’re such a maternal person”

Um…. No. I don’t have or plan on having “babies” in the near future and I’m not studying either.

I have simply chosen a new job that allows me to work a four-day week. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not lazy and I love my new job. I just don’t work Mondays because I choose to go op shopping or visit my grandma. I don’t work Mondays because I want to get up early and drive away from the city toward the beach. I don’t work Mondays because I get to sit in my sunny kitchen and write stories all day long in my pj’s.

For me, Mondays are like finding a $20 note in my coat pocket from last winter… every single week.

Who invented the five-day-work-week anyway? Why would we choose to do less of the things we love and more of the things that just get us by?

So far today I have been to the beach, admired my vege patch and had a chat to my mum...

 

Smells like Summer

Today I went walking with camera, boyfriend and Manu The Dog. I almost tricked myself into thinking it was summer. We went to the beach, where Manu The Dog terrorised poor unsuspecting beach goers. We walked to the fruit shop, where I managed to sneak carob buds and felafels into the shopping basket. We came home and cooked up a feast that included sweet potato chips and a salad with Haloumi. It was a day that proved it's the simple things that matter.

This mock summer day made me so excited about getting creative. Summer inspires me and makes me want to make the most of every waking hour. Winter not so much*. I came home and started planning some of the creative projects I want to work on. More on those later this week...

Here are some highlights of said walk:

See you in the summer!

The best time of year because there is real sunshine all the time and my Grandpa dresses up as Santa.



*I hibernate, my legs turn ghostly white, my hair goes frizzy and I give girls greasy looks when I see they aren't wearing stockings.

Hello.  Lucky you, you’re reading our first post. We are a little nervous. Nervous and excited about what leafie + lize might be. Starting leafie + lize is like a meeting a new friend. Someone who’s really damn cool. This new friend makes you feel both intimidated and inspired about all the possibilities that your new friendship could present you with. Long d + m's over tea, shopping dates, laughing til you cry, dreaming about your futures and a dash of inspiration.

To us, leafie + lize is also about filling the gap. There are so many blogs out there that just don’t suit where we are in life. We love reading about mummy bloggers and fashion guru’s BUT found a gaping hole in the blogosphere for 20-something girl-women trying to find their spot in life.

All we hear about is climbing the corporate ladder and high achievers. We are just regular girls approaching an official womanly age. We are GEN Y (we can’t ignore the hoopla), and we want to work hard, but we don’t want work to be our life. We want to experience the world and be conscious of it. We want an outlet, we want to feel motivated and we want to know if other people feel the same way.

We are well educated, budget conscious and lovers of fashion and life. We are trying to save our pennies for future life living. For the day we either officially grow up and have a house with a garden and little squirts running around or leave our sunny shores to see the big wide world. But until then, what happens next?

Stay tuned.

Come back and play soon.