Where have we been?

Hi guys!

What's hip-hop-happening? We know we haven't been around for a while. To put it simply, that's because a. A lot has been going on in our lives and b. we have been struggling with ideas for posts. What exactly is a "student lifestyle blog" and what kind of content are we supposed to be posting?

When we started this blog, our ideas drew inspiration from our favourite Beauty Youtubers and style bloggers. But we aren't that great at makeup, and we are too busy with uni to take photos of our outfits everyday (those of you who do, you're absolute goddesses). So what should become of this blog? Because we do still want to do this. After a lot of thinking, this is what our blog will be: a place for us to document our lives. We'll be posting life updates, what we've been doing, what we've been studying, places we've been, what's on our minds.
This way, there is a lot less pressure on us regarding content and we get practice in blogging. Just a bit of fun and hopefully we keep you all interested. Because honestly, when you have as many thoughts and opinions as us, what else can you do but write about it?

And because it has been so long, here' a bit of an update on what has been happening in the past month:

We started our second year of University! Getting back into the swing of things at Uni has taken some time, especially since Claire has to adjust to the "day student" life, and Grace's transfer making her practically a new student. There were a lot of things we had to figure out: Where are our classes? How can we make our timetable better? What shall we do during our breaks? Are we happy with these subjects? When will we do our readings and in what order? What time should we leave home in order to get on campus on time?
But, as it is mid-sem break right now, we can safely say that we have it down-pat. 
Breaks are for grabbing coffee with friends/studying! 
Probably leave 45 minutes for travel time as those trams are pesky things! Do your readings in order of your tutorials! See? We're killing it. 

Claire officially moved in! Now, we know what you're thinking: "What do you mean Claire didn't actually live with Grace? Was the summer a lie?!" And no, it wasn't a lie. Claire lived on campus last year and when the school year ended she moved into Grace's apartment, which she shared with a flatmate, and slept in the living room. It was a fun time!
But now, Grace's flatmate moved out and Claire moved in. Same apartment, but now it is 100% ours. This also means redecorating! Let us know if you want us to make a post about our apartment decor. (Our aesthetic is The Look For Less)

Housewarming
A couple of weekends ago we had our housewarming and decorated the place with streamers and balloons (because, duh. How else do you decorate for two 19-year olds apartment/housewarming?) Check out the pictures below! 
There aren't many photos because we didn't want to use photos that had our friends faces in them, out of respect to them, who may not want their faces on our blog. (Love you, guys!)

(Werk it, Grace)

Easter!
We went back to our hometown and visited the parents for Easter, which was lovely. The weekend was spent looking at old photographs of our childhood, as well as watching home videos. AND GUYS, WE WERE SO CUTE AS CHILDREN. Also, 100% identical (funny that, being identical twins and all...)

We are now on mid-semester break, which isn't so much a break, as more of a "non-teaching period" since we have essays to work on. Hooray! But we are going to try and get this whole "blog" thing happening again. You can count on us.

So if you're still with us, you're the best. We hope you stick around! 

Stay Gold,

Claire and Grace.

Blame it on the Summer Rain

Not even going to hide the fact that I used a Jonas Brothers lyric for the title of this post. (JoBro's for life <3 )

When they say that Melbourne experiences 4 seasons in a day, they are seriously not kidding. The weather this Summer has been unpredictable, changing from 38 degrees and sunny, to clouds and rain. However, even when the days are overcast is no excuse to start wearing dark colours. It is still Summer, people! This outfit is one of my faves to wear when it is a bit on the cooler side, with the rains and the winds a-blowing. Plus, when it gets like this I cannot help myself but be excited for Autumn, no matter how much I do love Summer. I was so happy to be able to pull out this scarf from H&M from storage. 

The rain is always welcome in my eyes, as it gives me an excuse to use my big, yellow umbrella! Obviously my choice of umbrella is How I Met Your Mother inspired. When I found it at IKEA last year, there was no question about whether I should buy it or not.

Umbrella: IKEA | Jumper: Target (Similar) | Scarf: H&M Australia (Similar) | Shorts: 'Audrey' shorts from Factorie | Shoes: Rubi Shoes

Stay Fab! 

G

15 Things for 2015

Happy New Year! (Again)

Claire, here! As you can probably tell, this week we are really digging into this whole "new year" thing, here at Graceful and Claire. Now, I'm not one for making new years resolutions, and even then, 15 seems a bit much. That's why this post is all about things. These "things" are not resolutions, but rather, reminders of things to do and remember during this year that is 2015. 

2015 for us means moving out into our own apartment, our second year of university, more blogging and more of experiencing what Melbourne has to offer!

**** This has been edited. I found the original 15 things I wrote in our notebook, and I like these better *****

1. See more movies (obviously)
2. Get involved more at Uni
3. Glee is finally ending (this is a good thing)
4. Parks and Rec is ending (this is a bad thing)
5. Shop more (Treat Yo' Self)
6. Hold onto old friends
7. But make some more friends, too
8. Take Your Passion, and Make It Happen
9. Find a Bar (go to bars)
10. Branch out more (in what, who knows)
11. Good Vibes Only
12. Be less bitter about those who travel (Seriously. Your time is coming)
13. Go to the Melbourne Museum, festivals, markets etc. Experience what Melbourne has to offer
14. Slow down
15. Blog Blog Blog Blog

We look forward to seeing what this year has to offer!

Claire x

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! 

Once: A New Musical

When the Melbourne Theatre Company's (MTC) 2014 season was announced last year, Claire and I were excited beyond belief to hear that MTC will be bringing the new, Tony Award winning musical Once to Melbourne. In November, along with our good friend (and go-to Musical buddy), Miriam, we attended the Wednesday matinee of the show with the usual elderly matinee crowd, (AKA our people!). My breath was taken away by the beauty of the staging and set (and perhaps, also, because of Tom Parsons, the actor playing the leading man, 'Guy'). There my have been some major swooning coming from all three of us girls throughout the show. 

The show is called 'Once: A New Musical', and rightly so. Yes, it has that title because it did open on Broadway in 2012. However, the experience of watching this show was something I have never experienced with a broadway show before, and that is something that makes this musical new and refreshing. Of course, as musical theatre fans, we love a good spectacle as much as the next show-tune belting fan. There is something about the intimacy of the show that for once in our lives, makes us feel like a part of the show.

I have been obsessed with the soundtrack (both motion picture, and Original Broadway Cast recording) for quite some time now. So much so that I must admit, I started crying during the first song. #classicgrace. The songs are filled with so much emotion! I have listened to this soundtrack on rainy days, before I fall asleep, on days where I have felt down, or even just as the perfect background music while on the public transport commute to Uni. Walking in to the theatre, I had no idea what to expect from the storyline - I only had the songs memorised.  

Turns out that Once is set in Dublin, and is a story about a man about to give up his music and a Czech girl who convinces him to continue. Cue a heart-tugging and refreshing story orflove, loss, passion and music. Truly amazing. Our love is real. I could go on forever talking about each scene in detail and the journey of my emotions, the perfection of the cast (did I mention that they play all of their instruments live on stage?!), but I believe I should leave some mystery and leave you hanging until you go see the show for yourselves. Walking in without having much of an idea of what I was about to witness just added to my experience.

Tom Parsons and Madeleine Jones are flawless in the lead roles of Guy and Girl

Once: A New Musical by MTC is currently running at the Princess Theatre (our favourite of the heritage theatres) until the 1st of Febuary, 2015. For the month of December, Once is having student rush tickets (can I get an amen?!) which means if you go 2 hours before the show, with a valid student id you can purchase tickets for $40. Hella. yeah.

-Grace

***(GRACEFUL AND CLAIRE DOES NOT TAKE ANY CREDIT FOR THE IMAGES USED IN THIS POST)***