Kate: The Future Queen | Book Review

Hello beautiful people!

We have officially made it through the first week of semester two! Only eleven more weeks to go until a wonderful four months off. I am looking forward to this semester, and I think that I will enjoy it more than the previous. This may be because three out of four of my classes are part of my art history major. Speaking of which, at the end of semester one I decided to double major, and add history to my art history degree. I just really love history, and I am excited for the second half of my degree to see where it may take me. 

Now, I know what you are probably thinking. Art history AND regular history? Grace, what are you planning to do with that degree? (Every Arts student's favourite question!) WELL, let me tell you. I have plans. Kind of. I have plenty of ideas of possible paths I can take, but my main goal, like THE DREAM is to somehow become a royal expert, a royal historian or working in any way with the British monarchy. You have to dream big, right?

While I was looking for a new book to read on the plane/in the airport/before bed/in the morning of our Sydney trip, I first went to look at the Royal biography section at Dymocks on Collins St., and noticed that they had UK royal expert, Katie Nicholl's, book on Kate Middleton. Kate Middleton is one of my inspirations. Plus, we are both art history majors! Obviously this means that we already share a connection. Anyway, as soon as I saw Kate: The Future Queen, I automatically knew that I had to make this my second royal biography. (because a biography on Grace Kelly totally counts, right?)

Boy oh boy, did I love this book! I thought that I already had the Kate and Wills story down pat thanks to the two American made-for-tv movies by Lifetime and Hallmark (I recommend the Lifetime as a personal fave). However, Katie Nicholl provided details into their relationship that I never knew before. It follows the general format of a biography, going through Kate's life from birth, through school, university and beyond, ending at Prince George's birth. A wonderful feature was two sections of coloured photographs of Kate as she grew up. Which of course I analysed every detail like it was one of the artworks I study at Uni. What I found interesting is that Nicholl went so far as to give background to Kate's grandparents and the story of how her parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, met. 

Of course, going into as much detail as Katie has achieved with this book did at first come across to me as an unnecessary creepiness. Surely going so far back to share the details of her grandparents was going a bit too far. However, the fan-girl side of me that wants to learn every little mundane thing about a person I admire, was glowing in satisfaction. Plus, I now have all of these little fun facts I can whip out at any time like a fun party trick.

I thoroughly enjoyed how Nicholl managed to tell the Kate Middleton story without focusing too much on 'Kate Middleton, girlfriend/wife of Prince William' and instead showed her as Kate, who just happens to now be the future Queen of the Commonwealth. Kate Middleton is an inspiring woman that has worked hard for what she wants in life. 

Overall, I loved this book. I found it enjoyable and while it is not a novel, it definitely read as easy as one. Now excuse me while I go watch the Kate and William Lifetime movie again while simultaneously ordering Katie Nicholl's other royal biographies.

Stay Gold,

Grace.  

P.S What books have you been enjoying lately? Let us know, as I am open for suggestions on my next read. 

One Fabulous City to Another | Four Days in Sydney

Hello all!

We are back! If you are following our social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) then you would have seen that we spent four days in Sydney this past weekend, with our wonderful and dear friend, Miriam. This was our first trip in a long time, and the longest time Claire has been in the city (previously exceeding her record of two days), so you can understand our excitement. 

Lately we have felt we have not been fulfilling our dreams as bloggers very well, looking at the Instagram accounts and posts of our favourite blogs (let us know if we should do a post about our favorite bloggers!) with awe and envy. As a result, we decided this trip would be a new beginning and refresh for our blogging habits. Hooray!

Macaroons from Laduree! Can you believe Westfield in Sydney has a Laduree?! And we haven't even been to Paris yet!

On Saturday we didn't document much, as we mainly traveled, and then went shopping (when your hotel is around the corner from Pitt Street Mall, the new Westfield, and across the road from Topshop, it's obviously the first thing you do.) For lunch thought we had these delicious Truffle and Parmesan fries from Charlie & Co. 

(pssst. Charlie & Co. is also in Melbourne at the Emporium, so you too can have a taste of these delicious potatoes!) 

 Sunday morning we had a look at The Rocks Market. Look at that view of the Sydney Harbor Bridge! 

Winter Market Style - Grace Edition

We had lunch at La Renaissance Patisserie at The Rocks, which had this beautiful courtyard.

The Museum of Contemporary Art rooftop had the most amazing views. Perfect background for photos!

This is our fabulous friend Miriam, who accompanied us on the trip. Together we are the Rose Golden Trio. She also has a blog, which she runs with 9 other friends called Mosaik, so go check it out. 

Of course we also checked out fabulous MCA collection inside, too.

After the MCA, we had a walk around Circular Quay, since it turned out to be such a BEAUTIFUL and sunny day. 
Sunday night we went to the movies at the Dendy cinema at Circular Quay and saw Far From the Madding Crowd, which we enjoyed very much. 

On Monday we went to the Art Gallery of New South Wales and saw the Wynne, Archibald and Sulman prizes, as well as their other exhibits.

This is Claire's favourite wall from the Archibald Prize. She just loves how the artworks are collated together in size and tone. Major gallery wall inspo (As it is, in fact, a gallery wall)

The Archibald Prize 2015 winner

Nigel Milsom - Judo house part 6 (the white bird)

Art Gallery of NSW 19th Century European Collection. 

One of our favorite exhibits we saw was See You At The Barricades, an exhibit which explored protest, art, and how they exist within one another. Here are two walls featuring posters from feminist activist group Guerrilla Girls highlighting different facts on where women are marginalised in the art and culture worlds.

For lunch, Claire's Sydney friends took us to Coco Cubano on Oxford Street. Unfortunately, we didn't get photos of our burgers, they were just too good, we dove right in. 

Claire with her lovely Sydney friends Emily and Carla. Thank you for playing tourist with us!

After lunch, Emily and Carla headed home, and we went to the Australian Museum. We quite enjoyed the dinosaur exhibit. 

On Monday night we went up to the Sydney Tower Eye. The views were breathtaking,so many beautiful lights. We then had dinner at Macchiato on Pitt Street, which was divine! We love a good pizza. 

Tuesday was our last day, and we were heading back to Melbourne that night. We checked out of the hotel early and had a lovely morning stroll through the Botanical Gardens. We walked three times forward and three times backwards around the Wishing tree (fingers crossed our wishes come true!), saw the twin ponds (because obviously) and took pictures of this magnificent view of the Harbor Bridge and Opera House in one. 

Government House is absolutely beautiful, and so of course we had to get photos in front of it. Unfortunately we couldn't go on a tour, but just by seeing the outside, you can tell how magnificent and elegant it is. 

Brunch at Portobello Cafe on Circular Quay.

To finish off, we all had a lovely glass of wine at Opera Bar, basking in the sun, as we knew Melbourne would be grey and cold, as usual.

While we are glad to be back in Melbourne, our favourite city, Sydney was beautiful. It was so great to have a couple of days of relaxing and working on your own schedule, enjoying a city without having to worry about work, Uni, or thinking "Oh, we should probably head home soon and do this..." 

A lovely refresher before the craziness of Semester Two begins on Monday!

Thank you for  reading and we hope you enjoyed it! 

Stay Gold!

Claire and Grace xx

Pre-Weekend Away Shopping Haul

Hello beautiful people!

We are very excited in the Graceful and Claire household this week. This is because next weekend, we are going to Sydney for a long weekend away with our bestie, Miriam! This is especially exciting, because this is actually the first holiday that we have planned and organised on our own, as adults. 

However, while our trip to Sydney will essentially consist of shopping and art gallery/museum visits, we felt that there were a few things we needed to pick up first. So, along with our good friend, Elektra, as our enabler (because every shopping trip needs someone to say that yes, you totally do need another navy and white striped jumper), we visited Bourke St Mall to see what we could find. 

Kate: The Future Queen by Katie Nicholl ($21.99 - Dymocks)// Confession time: I am a huge fan of the European royal families. Especially the Cambridges. So you can imagine how excited I am to have this book in my possession as my holiday read! I already know more than normal people about Wills and Kate by watching numerous documentaries, and those US biopics from Lifetime and Hallmark, but I am sure that there will still be more I can learn by reading this book. 

*This image is from the Target website. I couldn't photograph the material very well*

Navy Jacket + Quilted Vest (currently on sale - Target) // I have been looking at finding a jacket that I can wear in the winter instead of wearing a coat everyday, and this jacket and vest combo is perfect. Not only are they two separate pieces, but they are also waterproof, which makes a great piece for when Melbourne decides to rain, out of the blue. 

This jacket comes with quite a story. Instead of explaining it, I will tell you the short version. Basically: The original price was $89, but with it being on sale, and my cashing in on Flybuys points (I'm a real adult guys!), I only paid $7.05. I am fairly pleased with myself for that one. 

Striped Boat Neck Jumper ($39.95 - H&M) // (similar linked) 

We love navy and white stripes. It's a thing, let's just all accept it. It is nautical, french and classic, all at the same time. Feel the love <3 What I love most about this jumper is that I'll be able to wear it with some jeans or shorts and I have a cute, chic outfit. And so effortless as well! Isn't that just the dream? - C

Heeled Ankle Boots ($49.95 - Rubi Shoes) // 

I've been on the hunt for heeled boots, because who doesn't love them? I particularly like these ones, also am really into the whole open at the side thing. I also like the gold hardware (as I am such a gold person). I am very excited to wear these with jeans to Uni - C

Handbag (On sale for $69 - Zara) // Unfortunately, Zara Australia is not online, so I cannot find a link to this bag online. If you are as in love with it as I am, then you are going to have to go in store and find it. Trust me, these photos do not do this bag justice! This purchase was not for our Sydney trip, like the others. I actually bought this bag to use for Uni. For more details, I might do a What's In My Bag? post for the second semester of Uni. 

Union Jack Bunting ($5 - Treats From Home) // 
One of our grandmothers was born in England and we wear this 1/4 English badge with pride. Union Jack bunting is something we've wanted to have for the apartment for a while so when we stumbled upon this English food shop above Dymocks on Collins Street, we were like "hell yes!" Grace got a photo with a statue of the Queen and we saw like 5 mugs we want to go back and purchase.

Yay England! 

Stay Gold!

xx

25.6.15 - 2.7.15 | The week that was

Hello, all!

Here is what we've been up to this past week.

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THURSDAY

We had brunch at Bowery to Williamsburg with some friends we haven't seen in a long, long time. It was great to catch up with them now that Uni is over for the semester, especially since one studies interstate and another just jetted off to America for a couple of weeks. 

The place is super cool and NYC Subway themed in Oliver Lane (#ClassicMelbourne) I took a bad photo of my bagel with lemon and vanilla smear and maple bacon. It was sooo good! We are definitely going to go back, especially for lunch and try out the rest of their menu. 

The gals after brunch. The laneway the cafe was in lead to Flinders lane and this magnificent view.

FRIDAY

We watched Chef on Netflix and this was a photo to show my appreciation for the coffee-popcorn-chocolate combo I had. (The movie has alright. Weird pacing?)

SUNDAY

I worked 1-5pm and this is the view I had on my way to the tram stop.
Chinatown/Swanston Street.

MONDAY - WEDNESDAY

We both had a couple days off work so we took a quick trip to our hometown for a couple of days. We hardly left the house but it was good to see our parents, older brother and my favourite friend again. There was also Foxtel and a lot of Say Yes to the Dress <3

Also, we are both currently reading Harry Potter. I'm up to Goblet of Fire while Grace just started Deathly Hallows.

THURSDAY

We took three trains to get to Geelong, but it was worth it, because we got to see our aunt and uncle again, and meet their new twin babies! Another set of twins int he family, how delightful!

Stay Gold!

C xx