Need a Laugh? Here's Anne Hathaway's Rap

Ever since she did The Devil Wears Prada, Anne Hathaway has been unable to do any wrong in my eyes. I think she's a great role model, beautiful, smart, funny and talented but also appears for all intents and purposes to be down to earth. That said, even if I didn't think all of those things, I would still have to share this video as it is just so darn hilarious.

Here it is, Anne Hathaway 'in the style of Lil Wayne' rapping on Carson. Enjoy!

The Kardashians are Taking Over my Blog

Regular readers will remember that some time ago I wrote a short piece about the Kardashian sisters as they were releasing a new 'tell all' book. You can read the post here.  I wrote about whether in fact they really had anything left to 'tell' and also the immense popularity of these three ladies.

It seems I really had no idea how popular they really are. I am shocked to find nearly one year later this post is still coming up each week as the most popular post on my blog and this week the top five Google searches that brought people to my page is the kardashian sisters, kardashians, the kardashians, the kardasians (for those who can't spell) and kardashian book.

I can't decide if it is a good thing or a bad thing (I am also not immune to the irony that this post is probably just going to increase my 'Kardashian' rankings), but whichever way the dice rolls I am still puzzled. Is there anyone out there that can illuminate me what is so darn amazing about the Kardashians that they are able to take over my blog with one post?

Would You Trust a Stranger?

I had an interesting situation a short while ago that got me thinking - when did I stop trusting strangers? I just received a phone call from a really worthwhile local charity looking for support for a worthy cause.

I agreed to support the cause and things started getting complicated. To take my pledge, obviously the charity needed me to provide my credit card details, but exactly how do I know that the lovely lady on the other end was in fact legitimately from said charity and not in fact hired by fraudsters to collect credit card details? After an intricate dance in which permit numbers, ABNs and phone numbers were shared - I was still stuck. The phone number for the charity collection didn't match the businesses normal phone number I could see online, so even if I called her back I still had no way of knowing if this was legitimate.

I've had this same dance before with banks. Someone on the other end of the line claims to be from my bank and immediately pounces in with half a dozen personal identifying questions before they can share whatever it is they need to say. This is wonderful, except the same questions could be used by scammers to illegally access my accounts. When I ask them to verify they know something about me, they can't due to the bank's privacy laws. Checkmate.

Once when I insisted on calling the bank bank so I could verify who I was talking to first, I was put through to about five different people none of who had any idea why I was calling. Complete customer service inefficiency (probably) or proof my skepticism was warranted?

Now I want to open this up to the floor. How would you have dealt with this situation? Would you leave a worthy charity wanting to protect your finances or do you give people the benefit of the doubt? I'd love to know if anyone has any great tricks for checking if the caller is legitimate.

Thumbs Up for Modo Mio

I have to say I am a little impressed by all the new food offerings at Burswood these days. I had previously found their food offerings quite disappointing and it has always boggled my mind so many restaurants could be so non-vegetarian friendly. Although I have yet to give Rockpool the old once over (although I hear amazing things), it's almost like  new restaurant has been opening there every few months.

I had the pleasure of checking out Modo Mio the other day, the new Italian restaurant that replaced Victoria's Station. The restaurant itself is beautiful, very elegant and stunningly appointed - definitely not your usual local Italian-style restaurant. It's five-star dining but the food is very accessible ranging from old favourites like spaghetti bolognese to a classic margherita pizza.  Not to say everything is boring or staid, they also offer a range of unique tastes like orecchiette con broccolini e ricotta through to pan-fried barramundi in fennel sambuca sauce with olives, orange and capers salad.

They also have a small but very impressive dessert menu. I can personally recommend the chocolate pudding and my husband was quiet impressed with their tiramisu.

The best thing about this restaurant is whether you choose a traditional classic or something a bit more exotic, everything is fresh, high-quality and deliciously well made. We were even watching the staff shaving a lot of the meats in the restaurant ready to add to the dishes.

I was impressed with their lunch special where you could have a pasta or pizza and either a starter or dessert for just $36. Or if you want to go the whole hog, you could have starter, pasta or pizza and dessert for $42. I would definitely recommend giving this place a try. Now I am just looking forward to Nobu opening next month - let's hope this Japanese restaurant keeps the vegetarian-friendly theme running.

Horsing Around

Thought we'd share a fun fact with you today. Did you know that today all horses in the southern hemisphere are officially one year older? Yup. Apparently all horses have the same birthday, so their ages can be standardised.

So if you happen to see a horse on your travels today, make sure you stop to give him/her a hug and wish them many happy returns. If you're in the northern hemisphere though, you need to hold off on the cake as all our northern toothy companions don't celebrate until January 1.

Fool Me Once...

Have you ever faced a situation where something sounds too good to be true? Did alarm bells clang and red lights flash in your brain? Or did you put aside your cynicism and take a risk?

I am a cautious person and certainly far from naive. If something sounds too good to be true I am usually the first to walk away, scoffing quietly at those who can't see the writing on the wall. So how is it I am now the very disappointed (and somewhat embarrassed) owner a pair of fake designer shoes I bought off eBay?

The eBay seller in question, responded to all my questions quickly and with informative and honest sounding answers. She was selling the shoes after her husband bought them for her in Rome only they were too narrow for her feet. She provided pictures of the product, the packaging, shopping bag, the whole lot. It all sounded legit and perfectly possible - who hasn't made an impromptu but entirely worthless purchase when travelling? She also had a good eBay rating, although as a buyer and not a seller.

It only took minutes after I opened my package that reality set in. While good enough for your average shoe store, these shoes were not Christian Louboutin. The make was inferior, the size was far smaller than the label indicated and the packaging looked slightly wrong. The dead giveaway though was the sole - a completely different material from the CL norm.

I've already sent a message back to the seller who has apologised saying she genuinely thought the product was legitimate and offered a full refund... once I post the product back to her. So what does everyone think? I can't help but think - fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me! Am I just asking to get burned a second time?

Everything you Wanted to Know about Harry Potter ... and more

If you didn’t know that the final Harry Potter movie came out last week, you must have been living under a rock. In its first day Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 shattered box office records in Australia, earning $7,029,487, making this the highest opening day of all time. Not a surprise really!

As I am something of a Harry Potter tragic, today I’ve asked Sian Delaney, WA’s publicist for the Harry Potter films to guest post on the site and share some interesting and fun Harry Potter facts and figures from throughout the series. Here's what she came up with for us:

• Over 25,000 items of clothing have been used on Harry Potter.
• The scenes with the largest number of cast and extras to dress have been the battle scenes in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, with 400 Death Eaters and Snatchers and the Great Hall scenes with 400 children and teachers present. 
• A dentist was on standby for many of the young crowd scenes to replace teeth which wobbled and fell out – to prevent continuity issues involving teeth. 
• Harry’s infamous scar has been put on by makeup approx 5,800 times. This is not only on Daniel Radcliffe, who has had the scar applied approx 2,000 times, but also on his doubles and stunt doubles, all of whom wear the scar. 
• 55 liters of hair tint/hair dye was used on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
• Dan Radcliffe has been through 160 pairs of glasses during the shooting of all the Harry Potter films. 
• Dan Radcliffe wore out 60-70 wands during the making of the films.
• 40 versions of Salazar Slytherin's locket had to be created to accommodate Ron and Harry's failed attempts to destroy it. 
• Number of sets created – 588. 
• A 1/3 miniature of The Burrow was created just to be burnt down, when Death Eaters set it on fire in Half-Blood Prince. It took 14 weeks to make and 6 minutes to burn down. 
• The Harry Potter art department contained a team of 58 people working full time. Over 10 years they produced some amazing work, but also produced 35 babies! 
• 5 32-ton trucks' worth of polystyrene were needed to create all the rubble for Deathly Hallows. 
• To keep brooms light-weight and aesthetically on spec, aircraft-grade titanium is employed in their structure. 
• Producers David Heyman and David Barron were immortalized in portraits for the Marble Staircase. 
• 250 body casts have been made of actors for deaths, petrifications and stunning spells. 
• 210,000 coins were made for the Gringotts bank scene for the final two films alone 
• On Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Ron’s vomit slugs were in fact, puppets. Rupert Grint chose orange-flavored slime to make the experience more palatable. 
• Robbie Coltrane, who plays Hagrid, once got a fruit bat stuck in his beard during a scene in Hagrid’s hut. 
• After filming 40 kittens to go on moving plates in Umbridge’s office, the kittens went on to be domestic pets, with their new owners unaware of their famous origins. 
• The Great Hall was one of the first ever sets created for the Harry Potter films. It could fit 22 London double-decker buses inside. The set took eighteen weeks to build by approximately 30 people. 
• Dumbledore’s chair was inspired by the throne in Westminster Abbey. 
• The Ministry of Magic is set underneath the Ministry of Defense in London 
• 4000-plus pieces of furniture were bought to make up the massive piles of furniture in the Room of Requirement scene in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. 

Now it's your turn to tell us what you thought of the new movie!

7 Reasons it Will be a Good Week

I recently discovered the blog of the lovely Laura Greaves and today's update is inspired by her regular '7 reasons it is going to be a good week' post. I thought starting the week by writing down all the reasons it is going to be a good week is a great way for me to get in the right frame of mind right from the get go. So here goes nothing!

1. It's not last week. Since last week wasn't a great week, there's nowhere to go but up.

2. Harry Potter. How could this week possibly be a bad week when tonight I am going to be one of the first people in Perth to see how 'it all ends'? I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to tonight's preview screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, even though it will be a touch bittersweet as I know it's the last time I'll be seeing a new HP movie.

3. Learning something new.  I am really looking forward to heading to Media 140 on Thursday/Friday. I am really passionate about social networking and this is a service I offer to my clients at Hancock Creative. I think these two days of lectures and seminars are going to be a great opportunity for me to learn some new skills, discuss something I am passionate about with a lot of knowledgeable people and generally act like a sponge soaking it all up.

4. Do something that scares me. If everything goes to plan, on Wednesday photos of me will appear in the Style section of The West Australian. Not because I am some style of style maven, but because I had a personal stylist for a few hours and wrote about my experiences. I am not particularly photogenic and I am far more comfortable being the one behind the camera or organising the photo shoot, so I am nervous about the final outcome - but it's good to do things that scare us. It helps us grow. If the photos are bad though, I may spend the day in bed with the doona over my head. I'm just saying.

5. I am going to write. It's been a long held dream of mine to write a novel and I have started working on it in fits and starts. Oddly on Friday night I was gripped with sudden inspiration and wrote 1000 words before I headed to bed at midnight, so I am planning to keep that rolling this week. If I can get another 3000 words by the end of the week, it will definitely be a good week for me.

6. Good Food & Wine Show. If Harry Potter is the perfect way to start the week then the Good, Food & Wine Show is a great way to end it. I honestly think this is one of the best shows in Perth as there is so much you can do, taste, touch and try. I discovered a lot of great products last year (and wines, of course) that I have bought again and again throughout the year. I plan to try a lot of new wines and restock my red wine reserves for the rest of winter!

7. Because I am going to make it a good week. As they say, fake it until you make it - so this week I am going to put on my biggest smile and positive attitude and make sure I get the most out of each day.

Phew! That was harder than expected. Now it's your turn. What are you going to do to make sure you have a good week?

It's the Little Things

Right now you're probably looking at this picture of a packet of batteries and wondering if I have completely gone off my trolley. I haven't. (or at least, I hope not)

Today's post isn't about fashion, books, movies, writing or even my job. It's about taking the time to appreciate the little things in life. Today has been a pretty hard day where I feel like I've bit given a few hard knocks with a big stick, but I took a few moments this afternoon to take some deep breaths and remember all the things I am thankful for, and I thought I'd share them with you.

I am thankful for:

• Good health. At the moment my friends and family are largely healthy and after seeing so many people suffer horrible health scares - this is a precious gift. 
• A great job. I am lucky enough to be able to support myself by running a business doing work I enjoy. It's not all roses, but there are certainly more blossoms than thorns. 
• Friends. When I felt a little over it all today, I emailed a close friend who is also a small business owner and told her how I was feeling. She responded with a supporting email confiding she often has days where she feels the same way. As they say - a problem shared is a problem halved.
• These batteries. A few nights ago I griped to my husband that my wireless mouse kept dying on me due to crap quality batteries. The very next day he handed me this packet. I hadn't asked him to, but he'd remembered and made a special trip to the shop to find the highest powered batteries he could find, just to make my life a little bit easier. If that's not something to be thankful for - what is?

Now it's your turn. What are you grateful for this week? 

Happy Birthday Christian!

Now this is a first birthday party, I'd be more than happy to receive an invitation to. Instead of screaming toddlers smushing birthday cake all over their various orifices the guests at this party will be a gaggle of extremely beautiful red-soled high heels. 

I just hope to celebrate they are going to start offering shipping to Australia! In the meantime all I can do is window shop ... and dream. 

Definitely also have a squiz at this interview with the boutique's eCommerce manager. It's an eye opener. As much as I love these red soled beauties, can you believe one customer spent $10k (USD) on shoes in one order? 

Money Can't Buy Style

If you ever thought to yourself 'if I just had an unlimited budget I'd never make another fashion faux pas', then this picture should be enough change your mind forever.

The below lovely shirt/sweater combination are courtesy of international design house Versace and are new release products on my beloved Net-a-Porter. While I love this site dearly, I have to ask - what were they thinking!

The lovely red sweater could be yours for a price conscious £859.75 while this subtle and understated shirt would only set you back £558.33.

So what do you think? Do you love the leopard-print/blue floral combination? Or do you have your own overpriced fashion faux pas story to share?

One Week to Go!

Since I am pretty sure my Supanova post the other day shattered all elusions of me being chic and classy, I have no hesitations in sharing how very, very excited I was to receive this invitation. It's now officially just one week away!

If you want to know what I think of the preview, I'll be sure to Tweet straight after so make sure you follow me before July 11 for all the goss on Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2. It all ends!

How To: Three Looks for Sexy Eyes

I love a good DIY video as much as the next person so I had to share this great demo of how to apply eye make-up. It was created using the new Smashbox Softbox Eye Palette, but even if you have no intention of buying one of these sets for yourself, there's a couple of great techniques in there you can pinch as well as some insight into what the eye makeup trends will be come next summer.



If you are dying to get your hands on one of these you can get them in Perth from Kit Cosmetics for $69.95.

I Have a Secret

I have a job that could be described as cool.  I interviewed Joel Madden from Good Charlotte just before his wedding to Nicole Richie, I spoke to Matt Damon about hanging out with 'Angie and Brad', I've directed fashion shoots, I get to see all the movies before they hit the cinemas and I get sent free products from brands like Mac and Napoleon Perdis.

But the terrible truth is I am actually a nerd. I was in my element on the weekend at Perth's Supanova pop culture expo, which I dragged my long-suffering husband along to. I was so excited to see Amy Acker (Angel), Julie White (Transformers), Sean Maher (Firefly), Corin Nemec (SG-1 & Parker Lewis Can't Lose) and David Nykl (Atlantis). I didn't do anything as horrible as queue up for autographs or photos with the stars, but I was sufficiently creepy to go and stare at them while other people forked out their cash.

This year though, I have to admit I was really all about the villains and I was really there to see Tom Felton (Harry Potter's Draco Malfoy) and James Marsters (Spike from Buffy). I went to Q&A seminars with both these stars and laughed as James challenged the audience to embarrass him - and boy did they try - and sympathised with Tom as he blushed while turning down a marriage proposal from a want-to-be teen bride.

Before you ask - no I didn't get dressed up, but I thought you might enjoy a few snaps of people who did.

Did you head down to Supanova and if so what did you think? Or if you've got a secret passion, here's your chance to share - that's what the anonymous posting option is for!

Sale: Oroton the Outlet

If you're a fan of Oroton don't miss out on 'The Outlet'! It's a super special sale, but it ends Wednesday. Click here to check it out!

Feeling Blue?

Here's something I bet you didn't know. This Saturday has been declared Global Smurfs Day! On June 25, people around the world will be turning themselves blue to celebrate the birthday of Smurfs creator Peyo.

Don't you just love the word Smurfs? The more I write it the weirder it looks. Smurfs. Smurfy, Smurf, Smurf.

In case you've ever had the urge to get your Smurf on, here's your chance. There is going to be an attempt to break the Guinness World Records title for the largest gathering of people dressed as Smurfs within a 24-hour period in multiple venues. Yes, I am completely serious! To beat the world record they need more than 2,510 Smurfs.

Unfournately Perth isn't one of the cities where Guinness World Records judges will be appearing but there are plenty of cities getting into the blue groove as far afield as Mexico, Brussels, Dublin, Moscow, Johannesburg, New York and London.

In Spain, one of the famous White Towns of Andalusia will be painting the entire town blue. “Life-size” (that is, 7½-inch tall) Smurf figurines will inhabit Paris’s Trocadero Terrace in front of the Eiffel Tower, the main square in Reykjavik, Iceland, Bogotá, Colombia’s El Dorado International Airport, and high-traffic areas in Geneva and Zurich, Switzerland. Can you imagine being on your honeymoon in romantic Paris only to see a plethora of little blue men everywhere?

Aussie Smurf afficianados are being asked to visit www.GlobalSmurfsDay.com to share their support, however I would also encourage all Smurf-lovers to head to their local shopping centre dressed head to toe as their favourite Smurf. Or you could hit your favourite nightspot in your best Smurfette costume (why is there only one lady Smurf anyway, doesn't that cause a whole host of Smurf-sized problems?) Any takers? No?

The Smurfs are also coming to the big screen. The new 3D movie The Smurfs will hit Aussie cinemas on September 1 (TAS), September 8 (QLD) and September 15 (NSW, VIC, WA, SA). 

It's a Beauty Sale!

If your beauty bag is looking sadly empty, here's a great opportunity to stock it up again for the new season. Napoleon Perdis (one of my personal favourite make-up brands) is having an end-of-financial-year clearance and even WA isn't missing out on the goodies.

Apparently the sale will include 20-70% of limited edition products, gift sets and other store wide discounts. Details of when and where are all listed below by state. Happy shopping!

WA
Napoleon Perdis Makeup Academy

5/8 Alvan Street, Subiaco
Friday 24 June 10am-8pm

Saturday 25 June 10am-6pm

NSW

Napoleon Perdis Makeup Academy
90 Euston Road Alexandria
Friday 17th June 10am-7pm
Saturday 18th June 10am-5pm

VIC
Napoleon Perdis Makeup Academy
Como Centre Level 1/299 Toorak Road, South Yarra
Friday 17th June 10am-8pm
Saturday 18th June 10am-5pm

QLD
Napoleon Perdis Makeup Academy

2/243 Edward Street, Brisbane
Thursday 23 June 10am-7pm

Friday 24 June 10am-8pm

Napoleon Perdis Makeup Academy

Cnr Cavill and Ferny Ave, Surfers Paradise
Friday 24 June 10am-8pm

Saturday 25 June 10am-5pm

You can keep your eye on sale news at NP's Facebook page. 

Win: Last Summer by Kylie Ladd

In preparation for interviewing the divine Kylie Ladd last week, I was lucky enough to receive a special advance copy of her new novel Last Summer. Imagine my surprise at opening yesterday's mail only to find a second copy nestled innocently inside a brown shipping bag.

As I know this book is in high demand (even her agent took to Twitter bemoaning her lack of a finished copy) it is quite an exciting turn of events. Call it a twist of fate or divine intervention, but at the suggestion of the lovely author herself I am now putting this spare book up here for one of my WA Stylers to win.

All you need to do is hit comment below and tell me why you deserves to win this highly sought after tome. The most creative entry will win. Entries are open to all Australian residents and close Sunday June 19. The winners name will be announced here on Monday.

If you'd like to buy a copy of your very own (and why wouldn't you) Kylie's book will be officially available on June 27 from all good* bookstores, rrp $29.99.

* Clearly any stores not stocking this book is not a good bookstore. 

It's Not You, It's Me

Break ups are always hard, no matter how amicable there are always hurt feelings on both sides. On Saturday I made the difficult decision to end one of my longest-term relationships. I felt ashamed and disloyal but I set my shoulders and did what had to be done.

After many, many years of having a mobile with 3 (in fact, I was one of the first Perth customers to take up the service), I have traded them in for... well... an older model and now have that shiny spanking new white iPhone I had been dreaming about through Telstra.

I have to admit, I wasn't Telstra's winning customer service that made me change - in fact my calls to their service centre to see what kind of deals they would do to move two phones over from a competitor were lacklustre to say the least. After being incorrectly transferred to the billing department I finally had a lovely lady with a barely understandable accent tell me 'there's nothing they can offer at this time'.

We also had to wait nearly an hour to even get a customer service assistant in the store to see us and then a further hour before the deal was done. However, now my husband and I actually have signal and can make and receive calls, check emails and surf the web pretty much everywhere in the metro area. Pretty amazing right? (please sense the sarcasm)

I actually think the service in the telecommunications industry in Australia is pretty darn lacking, but I guess that's a conversation for another day.

What I want to know today is, who have you had to break up with? Like me do you feel disloyal when you change brands or shop at a competitors store or do you waltz between suppliers without a care in the world?

What Do You Like About Yourself?

Ask any woman what they hate most about their body and your likely to get a quick response. Stomach, thighs, bum that's too big or too small, chicken wing arms - we've all got a list of flaws we're perpetually conscious of. But ask a woman what she thinks is her best physical attribute and she's likely to stare at you blankly. Trust me I know.

Seated across the table from a fashion stylist about to take me on a two hour shopping session for an article I was writing, I was asked to write down some key details about myself and my style. But when asked what are my best attributes I'd like to play up, I was floored. The truth is, I had always chosen my clothes by what would hide my flaws not to play up any assets and had absolutely no idea what attributes I actually liked. In the end I think I stuttered something about being tall.

The stylist told me in a very matter of fact way they I had 'great legs' and proceeded to dress me in a succession of cigarette-leg pants, tights and stretchy figure-hugging jodhpurs. It was an interesting experience and I ended up buying some clothes I wouldn't have normally worn. It also made me ask the question, why are women always so tough on ourselves?

I think it's high time we all celebrated our strengths instead of our failings, so what I want to ask you is -  what attribute to you like most about yourself? Don't be shy ladies, the answer is there if you look for it!

 If you want to know more about the styling experience, keep your eye on the Style section in The West Australian later this month for the full run down as well as the 'after' pictures of me in outfits the stylist chose.