༺ Rose Gold ༻

It has been a very quiet Christmas for the Vear family this year. We weren’t able to fly back home to be with our friends and family ~ and I must say, it really put a damper on the holiday celebrations for me.

So many of my favourite things about Christmas ~ and pretty much all of our holiday traditions centre around being close to, and spending time with, the ones we love. Playing table top games, making gingerbread together, driving around the neighbourhood to see Christmas lights, going to the carols ~ all of that is done with our family…

Not being in Australia for Christmas was hard.

But there were things we got to do and see that we did enjoy, so all was not sad!

There has been giant pink Christmas trees, delicious food for our Christmas dinner, sleepy days at home, Lego building, decorating with carols blasting and the whole family dancing as they put up lights and baubles, plus smiling Thai friends wishing us Merry Christmas, even though they don’t celebrate Christmas ~ and can barely pronounce it!

I also really, really loved the chance to do something different with our tree this year.

Usually I go for a traditional tree, as pine tree-like as a fake tree can look (!) with loads of wooden and folk style decorations. This year I wanted to satisfy my pastel princess and go for a more 1950’s atomic pastel explosion!

We bought a white tree ~ the last one in the store. It was on display, and I waited for half an hour while they found the box out back and packed it up for me!! Absolutely worth it because I love it so much.

Then the girls wanted pink decorations, and I was definitely happy to oblige. There were some “pinker” coloured baubles, more like a bubble gum pink, but I loved this peachy rose gold colour! So much that we got a ton of those, and I accented the peach with ice blue decorations and some yellow gold for nice contrast.

We even found wrapping paper to go all matchy-matchy our pastel aesthetic. Some of it was actual Christmas wrapping paper, and some of it was cupcakes and macaroon paper ~ neither of which where particularly Christmas-y, but you know, matching aesthetic for the win… Haha!

I wore my specially purchased Christmas skirt ~ I knew I wouldn’t be able to make anything for my Christmas ensemble this year, and paired it with a sheer net blouse, bow belt, and hair flowers that I’d found while out shopping in Malaysia, and local Thai markets and shops.

I had saved my Christmas Pavlova Wreath brooch from Fancy Lady Industries especially for the day ~ I knew it was so fun that I just had to wear it. And when I unwrapped a Peppy Chapette Christmas Angel from the bestest Mister ever, it was a pairing made in heaven! My Christmas angel now had a Christmas dessert halo!

Best.

Christmas.

Brooch.

Combo.

….EVER…!!

The tiny roses I clipped in as a band/crown across the top of my head were also a lot of fun, and felt very 1940’s in style to me even though the rest of my outfit was totally more of a 50’s look. I don’t know if it was because of my outfit, but I had a couple of random strangers taking my picture that night when we went to look at Maya’s gigantimungous pink Christmas tree, and even had someone jump next to me as her husband snapped a picture!

So random! But I think because Christmas isn’t celebrated in Asian countries that it is funny to see people dressed up for Christmas! Mind you, my outfit would still be considered “dressed up” in Western countries too, so there’s that.

Having the chance to view the pink tree was really delightful, it felt very Christmasy and festive!  I enjoyed it a lot. Plus, dinner was soooo good. We went to The Duke’s, which is an American style Chiang Mai chain restaurant. We like to go there on special occasions, as it’s the perfect place to celebrate. If you can’t celebrate with family and friends you might as well celebrate with a super delicious meal!

So Christmas was really different this year, but it was a good one. As we go into the beginning of 2019, I want to wish you all a joyous holiday season, a belated Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year!

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Miniature Rose Hair Clips | Night Market, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Christmas Pavlova Wreath | Fancy Lady Industries
Christmas Angel & Reindeer | Peppy Chapette
Sheer Polka Dot Blouse | Thai Stall
Bow Belt | Malaysian Jims
Christmas Novelty Print Skirt | eBay

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༺ Rose Red & Curls ༻

I think I’ve finally done it. I’ve finally found the perfect sunny weather style. This look really is my dream summertime ensemble!

The miniature roses, the sweet strawberry dangles on my straw purse, combined with chic wooden clogs ~ all these details add the finishing touches to my ideal red gingham dress. For me, it doesn’t get much more summer than this!

I’ve had the vague ideas of this look floating in my head for a while now, so it really felt great to finally put it all together. We wandered the streets of our Moo Baan after a long afternoon of shopping to find a picture perfect spot, and thankfully we had the road to ourselves.

We only just managed to sneak these photos in not long before we left Thailand, so they are a few weeks old already! It’s been a rather crazy year, and I really can’t believe it’s almost over… Eeek!

We have made it safely back, and now that we are finally over the jetlag; I can safely say that I’m definitely more acclimated to a tropical environment than I ever thought I would be…

You guys, Canberra is COLD! And grey. And cloudy. And it really makes me miss the gorgeous sunshine we had over in Thailand, like when we took these pictures!

However, one thing that I’ve bought back with me, and that I’m still enjoying very much ~ funnily enough ~ is my natural curly hair!

Quite a while ago I posted a picture on Instagram where my hair had gone pretty curly ~ almost to the point of an afro(!), or a Vogue editorial ~ and honestly, the response I got was quite astounding to me! I had people commenting on it left, right and centre ~ just about on every social media platform and I was shocked.

Everyone seemed to just love my natural curls! Even as wild and crazy and bouffy as they were that day. I mean, they were soooo fluffy! I would have firmly pegged it as a “bad hair day”! Yet, no one else seemed see it the same way.

So I got to thinking, maybe I should just roll with it and let my curls do their own thing? I wasn’t sure though, so polled it on Insta, and everyone was super positive about letting my curls run wild and free. {Yes, hair can totally run wild and free ~ the mane is unstoppable and untameable! It just wants to have fun and do it’s own thing… Haha!} And again, there where random supportive, and super positive comments all around the place from people I would NEVER have expected to chip in!

I was kind of overwhelmed, but ready to go for it. Since then, that’s what I’ve been aiming for ~ the curliest of curls I can possibly get!

It’s a bit strange, as I have been trying to tame, smooth, and flatten the mane for such a long time! I’ve worked hard on achieving a good pin curl set on my hair type over the last six years. To let it just do it’s thing feels very weird. But it seems like it was the right time for something new.

I feel like all these little changes I’ve been making since moving away at the beginning of this year has really transformed my style. And while I will always have a soft spot for a neatly defined pin curl set, I do have to admit ~ this natural mop is by far soooo much easier to achieve!

I’m not sure I’m even ready to go back to pin curls yet, but maybe in time I will revisit them. If I haven’t forgotten everything I have learned by then! Haha!

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Miniature Rose Hair Flowers | Chiang Mai Night Market
A Gingham Summer Dress | c/o Sisjuly
Palm Straw Purse | Chiang Mai Night Market
Black Strap Clogs | OPERA, Malaysia

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༺ Lemon Leaf ༻

Last Saturday, I spent the last minutes of fading light cautiously navigating back streets of Chiang Mai. We haven’t spent much time thoroughly exploring the different areas of the city yet, there’s so much to see everywhere you go, even just driving down the main highway shows you a ton of sights.

In Thailand, everything seems to have sprung up in a tangle. The buildings, water tanks, power lines ~ all these man-made structures grow just like a concert jungle, and yet the real jungle never seems to go far away either. It all blends together in a massive labyrinth of lush leaf and bright, cheerfully flaking paint.

Unique to Chiang Mai are the towering mountains that surround the city, overlooking the bustling streets. They are untouched by civilisation, as the government wisely made them a nature preserve. Wherever you are in Chiang Mai, you can see them dominating the horizon, often shrouded in mist and rolling clouds as the thunderstorms come and go. They are my favourite thing about the city, always present, silently stretching high above all the noise and chaos. Serene and unmovable, the mountains remind me just to take a moment to stop and breathe.

Life has been rolling along with the usual daily routines ~ you wouldn’t think each week could slip by so fast, but here we are! Two months gone since we moved in our house, and only two months more before we are flying back to Australia to spend Christmas with everyone.

It seems too surreal for me as I type that out, but it’s true and I must say, I’m really looking forwards to seeing everyone again.

I have been loving our life here in Chiang Mai, but what has kept me going through the sharp attacks of homesickness is knowing that we will be coming back soon for a visit. It will come very quickly, and I can’t wait!

I’m even more excited for Christmas this year than I have been previously. Which sort of seems not possible, but is totally true.  (ᵒ̤̑ ◁ ᵒ̤̑)৹ᢄᵍᵎᵎ

Though, it will be strange to see so much brown after all this endless green I’m sure… Haha! You don’t see as much of the sky here as you do at home, and I miss the infinite blue, and the golden stretches of rippling grasses.

I find it interesting that with all this green surrounding me, and the jungle rising high above, Thailand has really forced me to change my style of photography. So far it’s been a lot of experimentation, trying things that I end up not liking, and others that I do. Over all the pictures are turning out richer and darker than I used to do. I will always and forever love pastel hues, but you just can’t do that here! A least, if you can, I don’t know how to do it… (⌒_⌒;)

But the light is different, it’s trickier to work with as more often than not it’s either way too bright and harsh for photography, or it’s cloudy and dull.

I’ve been learning to embrace more saturated hues ~ I’ve had to because basically everything here is either bright green or dark green but it’s almost always green!

Maybe that’s why Thai people love to paint their houses such brilliant hues? A bright blue, rose pink or lilac purple house is not uncommon around here, and they really do pop against the swathes of verdant green, green, green everywhere!

I also find it interesting that my wardrobe colour palette has changed a lot. I don’t think that’s because my taste has changed so much, as more like I just find certain colours work better over here? An example being yellow.

Normally, I don’t like yellow. I don’t have any of it in my wardrobe at home, except in accessories {I think there’s one exception ~ but it’s a creamy, pastel, butter yellow dress...} But over here, I have the very yellow lemon print dress I’m wearing in the pictures, and that I find myself wearing all the time. I love it! I have a yellow skirt with black swans on it that I bought in Malaysia.

And the other day, I picked up a dusty gold skirt at a second hand shop. It’s a colour I’d never wear as a dress or top as it makes my skin swallow and jaundiced. Not a good look! But as a skirt, it pairs wonderfully with blue, so it’s slotted in quite neatly when worn with my blue blouses and tops.

I’m wearing a lot more green than I used too, and I have found myself shying away from pink and red like I never would have before. I am also choosing darker colours, like navy or azure blue to wear, whereas previously in my mind, navy and dark, saturated colours where for winter only! Certainly not a tropical summer…

I find it all interesting because even though those don’t seem like big things, overall it adds up to a definite change in my style. I’m embracing more colours, {though white and pastel will always be my preferred aesthetic} and I’m exploring different shades which was harder for me to do at home. I know what I like and it takes a lot to break me out of my instinctive choices ~ both artistically and fashion-wise!

But I guess if anything will do it for me, a move overseas to a whole different place will!

I’m wondering if you find it hard to change up your style or do you just make up your mind and do it? I think that might be one of the draw backs of having such a strong sense of what I like, I tend not to explore other things that could be good too, but make the same choices over and over again.

Not that I’m bored with my choices, I just think it is fun to have the chance to explore other looks and styles too. I definitely get to do right now though, so that’s nice. I wonder whether or not it will change my taste in the long run? I guess we have to wait and see!

xox,

bonita

P.S. ~ After these photos were posted to my blog, I realised that they are being heavily compressed by Blogger and they look absolutely terrible! It has taken me wayyyy too long to realise this, but hopefully they won’t look as bad this time round as I changed the size of the photos beforehand. Let’s see if it makes a difference!

༺ ♡ ༻

Glamour Sunglasses | Zenni Optical
Lemon Leaf Dress | Zaful
Erstwilder “Mississippi Marvel” Magnolia Brooch | Erstwilder
Fresh Lemon Rilakkuma Handbag | Big C
Rose Petal Mary Janes | Friendly Panda Shoes

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༺ Miami Beach ༻

It seems crazy to me that our time in Malaysia is coming to an end already… This weekend we are supposed to be jumping on a plane and flying back to Thailand. But we haven’t booked our flights or accommodation yet, so we need to do that stat!

For all our time island hopping the last few months ~ {it’s only been three months, but it feels like years already!!} I think we are all ready to find a more permanent base of travel, and settle down for a while.

Over the course of our journey, we would move to our temporary place, discover what works for our family, and would just be getting into the swing of things ~ only to have to pack up, move, and figure it all out again!

Being able to explore new places is super exciting for me, but we have found that our family definitely requires more familiarity with our surrounds to figure out a good routine for our day to day life. Exploring is best kept to the weekends for all of us, but that being said ~ I still have fun going out by myself during the week as well!

I’ve been walking through a lot of shopping centres here in Penang. There is so much development, so many tall condominiums and giant malls that are eight stories high! It’s a crazy change of pace from tiny Koh Lanta, but I still feel like there is an element of that lazy, sun-kissed island life underneath all the high shine, and the veneer of society.

We catch Ubers everywhere, and I love seeing all the old historic buildings in Georgetown, I wish I could take photos of them, but we whizz by so fast {or sometimes slowly. The traffic here is definitely… Intense… People don’t follow the lines on the road, or the road rules much. Here the motto seems to be – “They are more like guidelines anyways…” Bonus points if you know the quote!  (¬ ᴗ ¬) }. 

I haven’t had much chance to blog, but I hope that will change going forward.

Silly of me, but I didn’t bring a tripod for my DSLR with me. I didn’t have the space and I thought, “Oh well, I can just shoot on the weekends.” I found out pretty quickly that that idea wasn’t any better than it was back at home in Australia!

We just can’t juggle blog shoots and keeping the children happy at the same time, so I really haven’t had the opportunity to shoot much. However, the other night I went, “I need a tripod.” So I went and bought one and that was that!

Now when I go out exploring by myself, I can stop and take some pictures too. So I walked down to the tiny beach at the end of our street, and hung out under the trees by the surf.

I was wearing this awesome Voodoo Vixen dress, which I have been loving. It’s been fabulous for wearing out and about in hot, tropical weather. Plus, the pockets are just fantastic! You’d think it would get a bit dirty being such a pale coloured fabric, but it really doesn’t which is super great.

I also picked up this Anello backpack very early on here in Penang, {our first full day here, when we were in Queensbay Mall actually!}. It’s been absolutely brilliant!! It’s not only the most elegant backpack I’ve seen, it’s also designed so well, and it is extremely functional.

There is a back zipper for access inside the bag without having to go in at the top, and my bag organiser inside keeps everything neat and tidy.  The top handles are great if you want to just loop it on your arm and carry it for a short while, or if you need to open it up. 

It’s the best backpack I’ve ever had, and I love it so much! ❤  It’s very comfortable to wear, as well as having a really classic, vintage look. I highly recommend one if you are looking for any kind of stylish backpack that functions beautifully. Oh! And it also fits my Surface Pro perfectly, so it can definitely carry a small laptop if you want to bring one.

The backpack has been a key part of figuring out a slightly different version of my vintage style for tropical weather.  But I think I shall save the details of tropical fashion for another post, maybe I’ll do a “Vintage style in the Tropics” guide?  For now though ~ I’ve already rambled on long enough. Haha!

To sum up the last few months ~ these islands of adventure have been amazing, with so much beauty just waiting to be discovered… But we are off to the mountainous jungles next. See you on the north side! 

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Navy Mini Backpack | Anello Bags
Ocean Treasures Dress | Voodoo Vixen
Floral Pearl Bracelet | Gift from Royal Old Town, Koh Lanta
Caramel Cream Wedge | Gurney Plaza

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༺ WoreSawHaul: AAVGM 2016 Rock’N’Roll ༻

It’s that time of year again ~ the Annual Aussie Vintage Girls Meetup {AAVGM ~ a mouthful I know… :P Here’s last year’s post}!

This time we were at the Rock’n’Roll Markets being held at Sydney University. I thought this worked quite well as it was slightly less crowded than the Round She Goes Markets in Marrickville Town Hall we were at last year. This was mostly because at this particular venue, all the vintage vendors where outside the building and the rockabilly/pinup/retro vendors where all inside with the bands and dance floor upstairs. 

We browsed, coffee’d up, shopped, chatted, shopped some more, then decided to go for lunch. So after a short walk and a long {relatively, haha!} photo session, we ended up at a gorgeous café for delicious food and tea. It was such a fabulous day! ✧*｡٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و✧*｡

But as I have a whole post dedicated to what I wore, let’s skip that bit and head straight to the SawHaul parts…. :P

~ WHAT I SAW ~

~ These gorgeous ladies! L to R: emmaamie, ladylaurabell, awildteaparty, lilajeanvintage, ….& me – lavenderandtwill! Thanks to the lake’s bridge we had a great prop for the camera. Though, as LilaJean pointed out, anyone spectating would have wondered what on earth those nutty ladies where standing there smiling at… Why, a fence post with a camera on it of course!! … As you do. Naturally… ~

~ Sydney University, with loads of lovely architecture; more coming later… ~


~ Park near Sydney University which we walked through to get to lunch; but first! Stop and paparazzi time…!! #bloggerlife #vintagegirlsgoout ~


~ Outside at the Rock’n’Roll Markets ~


~ More park scenes ~

~ Saying goodbye to the girls after lunch; so didn’t want to end the day, but I had to drive back home to Canberra… ~

༺ ♡ ༻

~ WHAT I HAULED ~

Surprisingly not much. There where some decent prices, and pretty vintage {always pretty vintage to drool over… Haha!} but nothing that really caught my eye or struck my fancy. I did pick a couple of things though ~ a wooden découpage handbag from the 70’s, some clip on earrings and the cutest Deer Arrow brooch.

I was really pleased to find the Blue Birds brooch as I’ve been thinking about buying this particular piece for a while. I do love a lot of the Deer Arrow designs, but somehow it took me a long time of thinking before I made the plunge and bought my first brooch.  When I found it in person though, I knew I wasn’t walking away without it, and I didn’t! 

༺ ♡ ༻

So that was my day out in Sydney with the girls ~ I had such a lovely time, and once again had a lot of fun just chatting and giggling over all the the things that girls do.  Our meetup was a bit smaller than originally planned, we were missing some ladies that couldn’t make it, but that’s okay, we will see them next time hopefully. ٩(+๑╹+ꇴ╹)۶

Large or small groups, long or short times ~ hanging out with your friends is always a good thing!!

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

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༺ Reaching Out ༻

Only two days ago, I was shocked and horrified to learn that my dear friend Jessica Cangiano of Chronically Vintage has lost her house and all of her belongings to a devastating house fire.

Tony, Jessica, and their pup Annie escaped safely with minimal smoke inhalation, but sadly it appears that their precious cat, Stella, was lost in the fire as they have been unable to locate her.
They were unable to save anything more than their phones and the clothes that they were wearing. Their property was completely gutted. The fire swept away everything they owned, including Jessica’s livelihood of her Etsy shop. 

I’m sure most of you know Jessica through her blog ~ she is a gracious, kind, and an incredibly generous member of our global vintage & blogging community, the sweetest girl that is friend to one and all. So if you wish to help out, here are some things that you can do.

Please consider donating to the YouCaring fund set up to help the Cangianos start rebuilding their life. There is also a Facebook page to help coordinate care packages and other donations of clothes and supplies that are desperately needed. Here you can also follow along to keep abreast of the efforts to assist them. Thank you for any assistance you can offer, I know that Jessica and Tony are deeply touched by the outpourings of love and care for them at this time. ❤

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

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