Life Lately Vol. 3

Had a 27C day which was spent at the beach with a very happy dog // Went out for morning tea with my gran and her friend and had the yummiest pineapple, raspberry, and coconut smoothie // Iced coconut latte by the sea with my darling cousin

• I keep on shopping! I know I shouldn't be but sometimes it's hard to resist sales. I'm talking to you, $80 down to $30 boots. And two-for-one deal at Dotti. And the really good salesperson at the make up counter. :(
• Turns out a class about research methods is not going to be fun. Like really not fun.
• I've been trying to eat healthier lately and I think it's working. I'm not restricting or only eating healthy foods, just making sure I don't overindulge in the sweet stuff, and getting fruit and veggies in every day. Those little things add up, y'know?
• I had a trial hour at The Coffee Club and I'm hoping that'll lead to something, even if it's temporary. I'm writing this post quite a bit before it'll be published so I might even have had more success with it by this time. I also met someone who works at Myer and said they had vacancies at her store. I would love to work there, think of the staff discounts! Of course, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here.
• One of the coffee shops on campus do the most ridiculous coffees - in a good way. The other day I had a 'bounty latte', which was like a mocha but with coconut syrup added. They also had black forest flavouring as well as a whole range of syrups, and an 'apple pie coffee', which had apple syrup and was sprinkled with cinnamon. I'm not sure how that would work out.
• Before I say anything on this next topic, I have to mention quickly: don't you dare give me any spoilers! I have just started watching Pretty Little Liars and oh my god, I did not think I'd become addicted. It's such a problematic show. It really annoys me how the actors are portraying sixteen year olds when they themselves are twenty five, and the fact that a young girl is hooking up with her much older teacher kind of creeps me out! Also, everyone is so bitchy and sneaky and the whole concept of the show but it is still so. Damn. Addictive. Like I have not stopped watching for one day. I'm already up to episode sixteen of season one, and I only started a few days ago. Thank the lord for Netflix! And my boyfriend, too, since he lets me share his account!
• I'm still a little bit lonely over here by myself, but I'll slowly get there friend-wise. I have people I can sit with at my lectures, but that's not the same as friends. I just really want a group of friends that I can ask out to coffee, or to a movie, or to go for a run with me. There's such a cute cafe nearby that does amazing breakfast but I don't have anyone to take there! I have an old friend from my youth that I like to catch up with, and we're planning to go running or something once a week together, so maybe something will stem from that. She's really lovely so I'd like to hang out more.

Well, I think I've rambled enough! Please let me know if you know any Perth bloggers, and if you are one yourself then please please comment, and I'll definitely check out your blog/Instagram/Twitter. Friends of any kind (online/IRL) are much appreciated! Tell me in the comments what you've been up to lately. :)

xx Silje

spring has sprung!

It's finally spring over here in Australia, and I thought I'd celebrate with a little bonus post for you all. The weather is warming up and winter is gone, taking the drizzle and gloom away with it. There's a crisp September breeze, the mornings are still quite cool and fresh, but you can feel summer arriving day by day - only ninety days to go now!

I thought I'd share with you a few photos of spring arriving I took on the last walk around our local lake with my grandmother and her dog, Penny. Isn't she the most beautiful pooch you've ever seen? And what a personality she has! She may look like a princess, but she's the cheekiest thing.

My grandmother pointing out all the new trees that have been planted around the lake, with a boisterous Penny walking ahead

Little flowers growing on the outskirts of the football field

Someone found herself a stick!

Patches of yellow in the grass - I thought they were lovely and very reminiscent of spring.

I hope you enjoyed this post, and are looking forward to the changing seasons, whether you're experiencing autumn or spring. Where are you in the world and how's the weather for you? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

xx Silje

Wishlist #3

Wishlist by faunalou

Do you know how difficult it is to not spend money when you really love to spend money? Incredibly! Especially when the train station for uni is right next to a massive shopping centre that houses stores such as Mecca Maxima. However, despite my slip ups here and there (cough cough, new boots), I've actually managed to keep it quite under control. I do carry around a wishlist on my phone for things I want to get when I can finally afford them. But doesn't everyone? ;)

CANDLES: I need candles! I love the gentle flickering light, the atmosphere, the scent, everything about candles. I really can't afford little luxuries like these at the moment, unfortunately. So these are high up on the wishlist. I would really love a Diptyque candle, even if they're ridiculously expensive.

EYESHADOW: I did a bit of shopping when I first got here and was amazed at all the different brands they stock in proper cities (glaring at you, Hobart). I was tossing up between the Too Faced Matte palette or the Natural Eyes palette, and turns out only the latter was stocked, so I bought that. I really want to get my hand on the matte palette though! It's so beautiful, and I absolutely love matte shades.

SHOES: I love me some shoes, and these sandals are super cute. Chunky heels are so versatile, they pair with pretty things as well as not so girly outfits, and they're much more supportive than regular heels. I do have a couple of other sandals in my wardrobe, but can one ever have too many shoes? I mean let's be realistic here.

BAG: My tote bags are falling apart, and the other bag I use for uni has a bit too much of a beachy vibe for my liking. Yes, I know I'm being picky, but in reality I need an excuse to buy a new bag, and this is the closest I'm getting. Really, the situation is: "I just really love bags and I want more!" Plus I love this colour and style and material and everything about it.

CLEANSER: I am so frustrated at my skin. I cleanse it day and night and make sure to always get rid of my makeup, and yet I'm always breaking out. Clinique has a really nice 3-step system and people like Niomi Smart use it, so I'm hoping something like this will help me and my skin out.

MAKE UP REMOVER: I'm actually pretty happy with the make up remover I use, which is Sukin's Micellar Water, but I have some really stubborn waterproof mascara that I love using, but hate getting off. Apparently the Clarin's make up remover is really really good at just melting it off, so hopefully I'll have some luck with it. Fingers crossed!

Of course there are some other things I'd really love to buy, things you can find in my phone's wishlist such as:

• NARS Luminous Weightless Foundation
• Urban Decay Naked Concealer
• MAC Paint Pot in 'Soft Ochre'
• Smashbox Red Correcting Primer
• Every single vampy red shade of lipstick I can find

Noticing a trend? I call it the 'I-visit-Mecca-Maxima-way-too-much' trend.

What are you guys lusting after lately? I would love to know!

xx Silje

Clarins waterproof makeup remover
40 AUD - harveynichols.com

Clinique gift sets kit
42 AUD - harrods.com

Boho handbag
88 AUD - modcloth.com

Too Faced Cosmetics matte eye shadow
61 AUD - sephora.com

Diptyque white home decor
135 AUD - net-a-porter.com

Drillz
windsorsmith.com.au

8 Positive Things!

It feels like absolutely ages since I last did one of these. I try to keep them up though because they make you realise all the things that make you happy. And who doesn't like that? I also love reading other people's happy posts, and I think we should all share that, and radiate the positive vibes! How cute is that picture?

1) Moving over to the west coast. It's so beautiful here. I'm a bit impatient when it comes to waiting for it to warm up, but even in the winter it's spectacular. I mean, just hop onto Pinterest right now and search 'Western Australia'. Who wouldn't want to live here?

2) Keeping in contact with my friends in even the smallest ways. My bestie I keep in regular contact with, through FaceTime and iMessage and so on, and my other friends message me occasionally, and then I have other friends who'll send me a cute little snapchat, or tag me in a funny picture online. Little stuff like that makes me happy, y'know?

3) Getting back on Instagram (sort of). I never really left Instagram, I just focused on my personal account as I like seeing what every gets up to. I don't share my personal Instagram online as it's just that - personal. However, the other day I hopped back onto Fauna Lou and I haven't stopped since.

4) Complete wanderlust over Koh Samui. My aforementioned best friend and I are thinking of taking a holiday together sometime next year. However, we have completely clashing schedules, and she has almost no breaks from university as she's doing a fast track course (!!). We do keep on chatting about going on holiday, and right now Koh Samui is my number one destination.

5) I know this sounds silly but finding out that Rosie has gotten married. I've been reading her blog for a while, and I knew she was getting married this winter, or their summer. I fell out of the blogosphere for a little while I was moving and when I went to read her blog again I realised that she had had her wedding! I'm so happy for the couple.

6) Starting university. It just feels as though I'm achieving something, even if I'm only part time this semester. Year 12 wasn't a great year for me and I'm hoping to improve at university. Getting my study on!

7) Reading a good book. I absolutely love reading, but it does take a good book to get me going. I realise it's a children's book but oh my god, Howl's Moving Castle is just so good! I love the movie to bits, so when I found out it was a book I bought it off iBooks and dug my nose in. At first, I got a bit stuck about halfway through, but the second time I picked it up I whizzed right through. I just love fantastical books, where the world they're set in is a little askew. Everything about the Howl's Moving Castle universe is so quaint and wonderful. If you're still a child at heart, I'd definitely recommend it.

And saving best for last...

8) My boyfriend, Luke. It is so hard being in a long distance relationship, harder than I expected. There are many teary nights, and other nights when I feel like I'm going to explode if I'm not able to even hold his hand. He has been the most supportive person through it all though. He really is so kind and caring and thoughtful and sweet and I could go on and on, but I'll spare you the mushy details. Basically, he's the bomb diggity of boyfriends.

So those are the positive aspects of my life right now! Please tell me yours, or if you do similar things on your blog, comment the link below and I'll be sure to check it out.

xx Silje

what's in my university bag!

How are we all? Besides university, life hasn't been terribly exciting for me - although I do have a trial shift for a job on Friday (tomorrow when this post goes live). Keep your fingers crossed for me, because I really need this!

I thought I'd do a little what's in my bag because I've never actually done one before and thought it'd be interesting to do. I don't know about you, but I really like seeing what other people carry around from day to day. This is literally what is in my university bag, as I put a photo up on Instagram of my bag asking if you wanted to see what's in my bag, and I got a few likes so I thought - why not?

Here is a basic overview of what is in my uni bag (shoutout to Lily Pebbles, whose blog is featuring on my laptop, haha).

Now let's take a deeper look at what I carry around all day:

Lecture book! I prefer to take my notes by hand, as I feel it gives you more flexibility with note taking. Generally after this, I type up my notes (I've been a bit lazy today and am blogging instead of studying, oops), and keep them all in a folder named after whatever week or module it is. I "created" the tabs myself, by buying folder separators and labelling them with either week number or module number. It's a total mess inside but I find it easy to work with handwriting, although I must admit, my hand gets a bit sore, especially after my three hour evening lecture :(.

Laptop! I don't really need to bring this to university if I have my lecture book to take notes in, and if we do need to use computers, for example in a tutorial, we use the desktop ones on campus. However, I really like having this around so that if/when I have spare time, I can type up my notes, review notes, or blog (although that's a bit cheeky). It's especially handy if I ever need to access material online for lectures, when you can't exactly rush out and find a desktop. If any of you are going to uni, I would really really recommend getting a laptop! I have a MacBook Air, which is on the pricey side, but any old laptop will do, or even a tablet with a keyboard (but a keyboard is a must). I keep mine in a laptop case because it is rather precious to me and I would like to keep it safe! This one is from OfficeWorks.

I think bringing your food is the best option, as I tend to overspend on takeaway from the cafes on campus, and typically don't eat well. If junk food is offered - I'm sold. This is not what we want, however, so I try to bring my own lunch and a few snacks. Today I brought a simple pesto pasta with chopped cherry tomatoes, which was super simple to make. For snacks I usually have chopped up veggies (carrots, cucumber, or celery), individual yoghurt pots, home made protein balls, home made muesli bars, cheese and crackers, or a simple piece of fruit. There's a whole variety of things you can bring!

Water is vital! I chug down at least one bottle of water while at uni. Something about note taking really makes me thirsty, I guess? There are so many benefits to drinking water, and they're all well known so I won't list them here for you. I really think it's so distracting to be dehydrated though, as side effects like headaches can really knock your concentration. And try to bring water from home too! I know I sound a little hypocritical with a Pump bottle here, but in my defence, if I do have to buy a bottle of water, I buy this brand as the plastic is thicker and I can therefore reuse them. Not to mention, if you buy, say, two bottles of water a week at $3 a bottle, and you have 26 weeks of uni, that's over $150 on water alone, when you could be getting at home for free! Or at least included in your water bill, haha.

iPad! Any tablet is useful here - I usually use mine to and from uni. I catch public transport, and I really like reading on the train. With my iPad I can download virtually any book I want for a fraction of the cost of a hardcopy, plus it's accessible anywhere. Also isn't this case the cutest?! I also use it to listen to music, because I'm terrible at keeping my phone fully charged, so by the time I'm heading home, by phone's on flight mode, on silent, and the brightness turned fully down. Oops!

My purse! Always an essential in any bag, this one holds the ticket to getting to and from university, (i.e., my SmartRider), my student ID, money, etc etc. Very useful, especially if I'm falling asleep in my lecture and need a pick-me-up latte. ;)

Other bits and bobs! My phone is pretty obvious, bandaids for any blisters or paper cuts or little boo boos that may occur (I swear I don't say that in real life), hand sanitiser for when germs strike, lip balm to keep your pout nice and hydrated, and a pen because how else are you going to take notes?? I also like having my hair pulled up while taking notes, because it tends to drape down over my face if I look even slightly down. Lately I've been obsessed with giant claw clips, as they're super flexible and you just kind of throw up your hair and clip it in place. I do like to take a hair tie as well though, just in case. Maybe I'll feel like rocking a pony tail, right? This is also where I'd have my earphones but someone forgot them. Who was it? We'll never know...

I hope you enjoyed this post! Tell me what you carry around in your university or school bag, or work bag. Or any bag! Until next time.  :)

xx Silje

university!

I have officially started university, and am in my first week of it. The campus is absolutely huge and full of people, yet I still feel a little lonely. As of yet, I haven't made any friends, but I'm not publishing this post until the end of the week so hopefully (fingers crossed) I'll have found some company by then.

I did bump into a friend from primary school who I've caught up with since moving here, which was really nice. A relief to talk to someone I knew!

My first lecture wasn't terribly exciting. It took a while to get into the swing of things, and I actually really enjoy taking notes (weird, I know), but that didn't happen until after the first hour. We got a 15 minute break in the middle and so, because I was just about falling asleep, I went to get a coffee. This however, ended up in me coming back late because the line was so long, and having to do the walk of shame in front of everyone back to my seat. Ah well, my coffee was nice. And that's what matters, right?! Luckily, I wasn't the latest person back.

I'm off to my first tutorial in half an hour and I'm hoping it's a bit more social than the lecture. No doubt it is, seeing as a lecture consists of a professor talking at you for two hours, haha. I'm excited to get more in the swing of things, as I really like routine. There's something so calming about it, am I right?

The best thing about my units are the exams. I know that sounds wrong, BUT the exams are both multiple choice! I haven't done a multiple choice exam in so so long, and I hate essays so this is a dream come true (sort of). For both units you're even allowed to bring your textbook in, and one of them is completely open book. Of course, I'll still be studying and working hard, but there won't be that pressure of having to properly memorise quotes and references and dates. Like the lecturer explained, he wants the unit to be about understanding concepts rather than simply memorising them. Sounds great to me.

My Thursday evening lecture actually turned out really nice. I managed to talk to quite a few people, and the lecturer was great. He had a really good sense of humour and seemed to know his stuff, which is such a relief, because all my past education I really haven't had many good teachers. Cough, cough, year eight maths teacher.

All in all, I did enjoy my first week at university, despite its loneliness. Hopefully I'll be able to make a few friends and get more of a social life, haha. I bought a ticket to the start of semester party, thinking my friend had got one, but turns out she didn't and they were sold out before she could. Long story short, I didn't end up going for fear of looking like a loser. However, there are plenty more parties popping up every week (one on Wednesday, yay!), so I didn't miss out too much.

On the topic of university, I also started a studyblr, which is a Tumblr blog primary for study pictures and inspiration. You can check mine out here. Please do. :)

Have you guys started university yet? Tell me all about it!

xx Silje

anniversary breakfast

On the 24th of last month Luke and I celebrated our three year anniversary, which is really quite a long time considering we're a high school couple. I only know one other couple who've been together since high school (year ten in Tasmania), although I can imagine there are quite a few.

The plan was to go to Rottnest Island, a small island off the coast of Western Australia, but the ferry we thought left at 10.30 actually left at 10, so we were a little late to say the least. We still managed to book tickets for the next day (a post to come for that!) but we didn't have plans for the rest of the day, so we wondered around for somewhere to eat. Most cafes were either chains or not open until noon, but we found one little place that was absolutely gorgeous, so we stopped in and had a look at the menu, which was delicious.

Look at that cutie pie! The whole set up of the place was really nice, with pastel coloured chairs and tables, and wooden crates for chairs and barrels for tables. It was really super quaint, but managed to avoid looking tacky.

Someone was a little shy ;)

Wasn't our table cute?! We decided to sit outside as weather in Perth is quite mild in winter and the sun was out. All of the tables were undercover, but it was just a bit more refreshing where we were. We also had a very interesting table number decoration.

Apparently Ken and Barbie were joining us for breakfast.

The menu was full of delicious options that made my mouth absolutely water. Luke had a hankering for pancakes, so he had that, whilst I was really hungry, so I went for the option aptly named 'The Beast'. It actually looked a bit funny this 6 foot guy ordering blueberry pancakes and a tiny girl ordering a beast of a meal! We also had the yummiest drinks. Luke had an iced coffee that was ever so slightly bitter at first, but once the vanilla ice cream melted a little it had the most gorgeous flavour. I went for a tropical smoothie with pineapple, mango, coconut water, and chia seeds. Oh god it was good. And of course, like any good hipster cafe, they were served in jars.

I didn't manage to get a proper shot of the drinks because they were too damn delicious to take photos before drinking. I also managed to steal a couple of bites of Luke's pancakes. We were going to go half and half but by the time I was halfway through my meal, I couldn't muster more than a couple of bites I was so full. The Beast had done its job of filling me up, and a bit more, too.

The Beast - bacon, tomato, spinach, avocado, on a toasted Turkish bread pita with pesto aioli and a side of hash browns

Blueberry pancakes with a blueberry compote served with cream

All in all, it was a gorgeous breakfast perfect for a casual meal. Maybe not an anniversary meal, but it was certainly great for a last minute find, and honestly, we didn't have much of a budget. We're both young adults, can you really expect us to afford a fancy restaurant?

I would definitely recommend the breakfast we had, it was so so yummy and I always love just having a nice chatty meal with Luke. Three years later, we can still talk and talk and talk. And if you're reading this, I love you Luke.

xx Silje

an update (perth, boyfriend, uni)

I'm not very good at this blogging thing, am I? Oh dear, it has been a long time! I think from now on I'm just not going to promise anything and instead write when I write. But hello all! How have we been? I've been doing so much stuff recently that for a while I didn't sit still. My last couple of weeks in Tasmania were full of catch ups and packing and boring organisation. However, I'm now in Perth!

Sunny glorious Perth! It is so wonderful here, and I'm so glad I made the decision to move to this city. It's so familiar and homely, but still large enough to be interesting. Not to mention, they have so many make up brands available to me that I couldn't get back home. I'm currently living with my grandmother and her absolutely gorgeous dog Penny. Truth be told, I'm in love with her already.

Sorry for the terrible quality, but isn't she gorgeous??

Luke and I are now in a long distance relationship, which honestly sucks. We have been together for over three years now, and in that entire time we've been living twenty minutes apart, which the longest time spent apart being two weeks. So it's certainly different! Luckily, we have FaceTime and unlimited texting, but it's just not the same as being physically with each other. The worst part is there isn't a date we can count down to as Luke doesn't know when he'll be able to move over.

As for university, I am officially enrolled after a thousand and one issues regarding what course, what units, and other things that should be simple but really weren't. I am doing a Bachelor of Speech Pathology, but to do the units I wanted in semester two I had to enrol in a BA in Psychology. All a bit too confusing, hey? Luckily it's all out of the way now. I'm so excited to start! The actual university is gorgeous. It's so big there's a lake in the middle of it. They also have a GP, counsellor, hairdresser, pizza place, tavern, optometrist, multi-faith church, fully equipped gym, and at least five different eateries/coffee shops. It's amazing. The best part is that it's so easy to get to. There's a bus stop outside my street, which takes me to the train station, and then there's a free shuttle from the train station to the university. It sounds complicated but it's very straightforward and only takes about 40 minutes overall. Very different to Tasmania!

The area the university is in is also super modern, with heaps of accommodation and a giant shopping centre. And at the end of August, H&M is opening its first store in WA! I am definitely going to the opening! It's most likely this is where Luke and I will move to when we get our first place together.

All in all I'm nicely settled in, I just need to find a job. I managed to get a couple of job interviews but they were unsuccessful (Thursday is late shopping night, and I have an evening lecure - boo), so I'm still searching. However, it's not like I'm not trying. Believe me, I've handed in close to fifty applications. Fingers crossed, it's all waiting now!

I've got a few posts coming up in the next few weeks, I think I'll generally be posting on Thursdays from now on. Thank you to everyone who follows me, and I hope you don't hate me too much for leaving for so long!

Love you all,

xx Silje