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

Our Inaugural Annual Christmas Party

Hello all!

For our 19th birthday the other week, we threw a Christmas Party (of course). We are planning on making our Christmas party an annual event. Considering that this is our final year of being official teenagers, this will be a great tradition to go in to our twenties with. Christmas parties are not just work events, they are a great way of getting together with friends and celebrating the holiday.  

So, with the help of Pintrest, a couple of our parent's wedding presents and $2 shops, here are a few photos of our celebration.

Our Pimm's Punch was a great hit with everyone! 

Homemade Peanut Butter, and Hazelnut chocolate truffles

Shout-out to Alice for making peppermint chocolate bark. It was delicious!

Of course, we needed something savoury, and this mix of popcorn, pretzels and Christmas M&M's was popular. Especially when the night ended in a viewing of Love, Actually.

You cannot celebrate Christmas without some festive bon bons! Also, we had our Spotify playlist filled with hours upon hours of Christmas music in the background to set the mood. 

Gotta love this chalkboard from Typo which you can purchase here.

The night was wonderful spent with our lovely friends. It also ended with us watching Love Actually and playing a Love Actually drinking game. #wildnight

Merry Christmas! 

Our First Christmas Tree

MERRY SECOND OF CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY! 

Yes, the month of December has temporarily been re-named 'Christmas', because for us, Christmas is a month-long festivity. Yesterday was the First of Christmas, and it is possibly the third most Christmassy day next to Christmas Eve and actually Christmas Day itself (obviously). As you can tell, we are very much Christmas people. As December 1st was getting close, we were very excited to purchase our first Christmas tree, deck the halls and unleash the Christmas all over my apartment. Luckily, my housemate (that is not Claire) is also a fan of Christmas, so this is one very merry household indeed. 

So here is our Christmas tree! We decided to go with a silver theme with red and gold accents, and it is safe to say that we are pretty happy with it.

Stay tuned for more Christmas-themed posts throughout the month of December.   

Our tree is the 6ft Jardine Christmas Tree from K-mart ($22)

A few years ago, our mum bought a set of baubles especially for our family cat, Julian, to be represented. When each of us moved out, we all took one with us. 

We also managed to grab all of the Christmas tree decorations we made throughout our childhood (and teen years). I love the sequined one that I made, which you can see hiding in the back.

We are obsessed with this white and gold bauble from kiki. K. ($9.95)

Of course we also needed to include our favourite Disney Princess! This plastic bauble was only $2 at Coles.

Feel free to share with us what your Christmas trees look like! Graceful and Claire is now on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Check out the links on the right hand side of our blog and give us a follow to keep up to date on our lives. 

- Grace x