New Year

Hello again

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and ate too much food and chocolate. I know it's true for me, the Christmas ham will probably last all of January but not the chocolate with the way I'm going through it all.

 

Today is the last day of 2014. 2015 is a new beginning and it feels exciting have a fresh slate and to see what comes of it.  I'm particularly excited about my family's trip to the Gold Coast in March, my first overseas trip.

 

2014 was ok, I completed my degree (still can't believe I've finished) and I saw some amazing concerts; Justin Timberlake, Lorde and Katy Perry who was for sure the highlight out of all of them.  It was ok as everything is still basically the same, I'm sat in the same position as I was last year.

 

In 2015 I want to be less scared of opportunities and just do what makes me happy rather than what I'm expected to do if that makes any sense.  I'm very shy, socially awkward and I overthink everything which is not a great combo.  In 2015 I want to stress less and to just do things rather than overthink to the point were I don't do the things I want to do, that doesn't sound hard at all :/

 

Anyway I hope you all have a great New Years wherever you are in the world and are ready to embrace the new opportunities and experiences 2015 has for you.  

 

Ashley xx

 

My Favourite Things #29

Katy Perry
Literally just today I managed to get some tickets to Katy Perry that aren't that bad that I know of. Oh well, I'm going!!! I saw her when she last came to NZ way back in 2011, she was amazing and I am super excited for tomorrow night! :D

 A photo for you all because she's such a babe <3

 

Mirror

Last week I went a bit crazy on 1 Day, it's a website that has three different deals on anything and they last for 24 hrs. I bought three things, one was a Christmas pressie and the other two were for me oops. When I saw this mirror I knew I wanted it, I don't really have a good mirror on a stand and felt it was a necessity.

 

It is huge! It spins around and one of the mirror is magnified which is something to be weary of.

 

Gym Ball

I got this in the same sale as the mirror. I've always wanted one of these balls so when I saw it I went for it. 

 

 

It's so fun and squishy! So much fun that my sister keeps taking it and using it.

 

Hope you all enjoyed this post and have a great weekend!

Christmas Wish List 2014

Hey

It's hard to believe but Christmas is next week! Ahhhh nooooo. I have not finished my Christmas shopping, it's so hard to buy for other people especially boys, I have no idea what to get my brother a part from chocolate.  Shopping's also dangerous as I'll just find stuff I want and buy it, oops. So here's my Christmas list for this year.

 

 

TL - BR: MAC Ruby Woo, Kikki K 2015 Diary, Essie Nail Polish, Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream Perfume.

 



So this is all I could really think of, throughout the year I always have a number of things I want but when it comes to making a list for Christmas I find it hard.  I have a book that is filled with all the beauty items I want but I won't go into it, it's extensive.  My Dad isn't too happy nail polish is on my list, he thinks I have a lot but really I don't, most of them are shatters anyway.

 

Hope you all enjoyed this post! I would love to know what is on your Christmas Wish List.

My Favourite Things #28

Mirrou Elephant Dress

I completely forgot to include this in the post on Tuesday oops. But that just means I can include it in here and it is one of my favourite dresses I have even though it's a mission to try to get it on. 

 

So yeah, the top and bottom part look like separate sections but I love the effect. The design is cool, it has elephants as well as some other cool designs which I find hard to describe.  The straps at the back cross over and the back is open. This feature makes it impossible for me to put it on, I can't figure out where they're suppose to go, it took me at least 20 minutes to put it on once.

 

New Shoes

Yesterday I finally got to see Mockingjay, it was amazing, and saw it in the deluxe cinema with the comfy seats YUS.  Anyway afterwards we went shopping I we stumbled into Number One Shoes and I got myself a little pressie.

They're nothing fancy, just black slip on shoes which I can just wear anywhere because sometimes I'm lazy.

Vlogmas
Throughout December till Christmas numerous YouTube stars have been vlogging everyday which gives me quite a lot of viewing material to get through but I love them.  My favourites are Lily Pebbles, Tanya Burr, Zoella, Shaaanxo and Shop Style Conquer.

Hope you all enjoyed this post and hope you all have a great weekend!

Mirrou Spree

Hey

How's it going? How was your weekend? My weekend was nice, had a lazy Saturday and on Sunday I went to my first ever bloggers brunch. I was super nervous but everyone was lovely (I still kept quite though, takes a while for me to come out of my shell when meeting new people) and the food was yum.

 

Today's post is a clothing haul which I don't think I've done in a while. A couple of weeks ago my family and I (minus my brother) went to Sylvia Park for some reason. I can't really remember which is the norm for me lately, my memory is starting to fail me.  Anyway I discovered Mirrou which I didn't know was at Sylvia so I had to go in and found some great pieces.

 

Left: Just a nice white singlet which I can just wear with anything.

 

Right: I saw a girl wearing this shirt earlier in the day and I really liked it but had no idea where it was from. When I saw it in Mirrou I knew it was mine.  The sleeves and around the collar in the front are mesh which makes it more interesting than a plain black shirt.  My sister actually got the same shirt which was surprising as we don't usually have the same taste in clothes.

 

Left: This shirt was right beside the black one above and I loved it as well. Just a classic black and white shirt but what sealed it for me was the typography.  Whenever I see something in French or just the word Paris I have to have it.

 

Right: This was the first thing I spotted in the store. It's a nice cardigan thing which I can just throw on when it's a bit chilly. It's long, flowy and is also very soft which is a must. It came in black as well but went for this one as I'm trying to avoid the safety net that is black.

 

 

My Mum actually pointed this out to me and when I saw it I knew I wanted it. I think it's pretty obvious why, it's gorgeous and is another addition to my key ring.

 

Hope you all enjoyed this post! From now on I might only post twice a week leading up to Christmas, maybe, we'll see how it goes :p

My Favourite Things #27

Auckland Art Gallery

Yesterday my friend and I paid a visit to the gallery as we both wanted to see the Light Show which is on at the moment.  It is AMAZING. I've always been fascinated with light and love how movement, water and illusion was incorporated to make the works come alive.

 

We also wandered around the rest of the gallery as we hadn't been in a while, we had a play with the lego's, my creations ended up falling over and breaking :( We also had a fun time in what I think is more of the children's area buut it was the best.

 

Here's me playing with thee lights

 

New Dogs

Last Sunday my family ended up with two new dogs. It's been exciting having something new around the house but I don't think the cat will agree.

 

 

The Black Lab is Molly and the fluffy one (not sure what breed) is Buddy.  Buddy is more chill while Molly is more adventurous, she is always jumping over the fence so she has to get tied up.

 

Christmas Lights

Christmas is my favourite time of year, I just love the whole atmosphere and I especially love Christmas lights on houses. My Dad has put lights up on a tree and the fence at home, he really wants some icicle lights and an inflatable Santa, I think I likes Christmas as much as I do. 

 

I love houses that go all out for Christmas such as the ones we saw last night at Karaka. There are two houses which are lit up. The owners in one of the houses have a sleigh and they do rides for children. The other one is amazing, the lights are programmed to light up with music and there is a screen that has images on it relating to the song.

 

This is a video I took of it last year

 

Hope you all enjoyed this post and have a great weekend. On Sunday is the Christmas Brunch Club. I'm both excited and nervous to meet everybody so hopefully I won't be as socially awkward as I usually am.



Sacred and Profane Love - Titian

Hey

I'm trying to make art posts more regular on the blog as 'arte' is part of the blog's name.  Today's post is on another art work I studied for my exam and is of the similar nature as the Venus of Urbino and was done by the same artist.

Source: http://www.wga.hu/index1.html

 

Like the Venus of Urbino this work relates to the event of marriage with the two women representing the two types of love; Profane on the left in her traditional wedding gown and Sacred on the right which is more classical and represents sexuality. The painting represents both earthly and heavenly love.

 

The painting was commissioned for the Vice Chancellor of the Venetian Republic, his Coat of Arms are on the sarcophagus. The Coat of Arms of his wife are on the silver bowl.

 

The two figures; the bride and the Venus, are thought to represent the same women which represented the ideal women and would have been a model for the bride. The bride looks out, signalling martial consent. Behind the bride an angel is encouraging water from a spout and combined with an image of a Stallion on the sarcophagus represents male sexuality and the importance of child bearing.

 

Hope you all enjoyed this post!

XO Beauty Haul

Hey

 

When I got my allowance (how often do I start off like this?) I made a list of all the things I wanted to buy. Getting my hands onto some new makeup brushes from XO Beauty was on top of the list.

 

XO Beauty is Shaaanxo's brand and sells makeup brushes, eyelashes and you can also buy hair ties and jewellery.  They're really good quality, not that expensive and since it's based in New Zealand I don't have to wait as long to have them.

I wanted everything of course but I controlled myself. Because of this I struggle choosing what to get, trying to figure out what was more important.

 

I knew I wanted to get another Flat Top Face brush, I use this to put on foundation (as taught by Shaaanxo, all I know about makeup application is thanks to her). I got another one so I don't have to worry when ones drying out from being cleaned. 

 

I also got a Lip Brush and Tapered Crease brush because they seemed like very important tools to have. I don't like being caught out in situations so I always make sure I'm prepared.  I haven't ventured into eye shadows yet but I have purchased my first Naked Palette, Naked Basics, in celebration for getting my degree. I know that the Tapered Crease is an important brush to have for eye shadow so I got it in preparation.

 

I also picked myself up some hair ties as I pretty much have only one and because they're so gorgeous.  There are three different styles to choose from, I went with the Original xo as I just love the simple designs and colours.

 

Hope you all enjoyed this post! I was tempted to get some eye lashes but I don't think I'm at that stage yet, maybe next time.