Breakfast of champions...

Had a leisurely stroll around Bondi Beach Markets this morning, hoping to be inspired. Unfortunately, saw nothing really outstanding.

Did find a cute vintage mustard yellow smock top for $20 and a sheer white lace blouse for $50, the later of which I will wear with my Alba Fan Club pale denim, high-waisted jeans tomorrow night. Actually I may not fit into them after sinking my teeth into the cheesy-toast goodness of what I ate at Jed's Cafe, post market hunt.

Staying sane...

Here's how I will survive the crazy week leading up to Christmas...

• Making time to see friends, even though the pile of work on my desk just doesn't seem to shrink
• Getting a good haircut...good hair equals one less thing to worry about
• Hugs from the cat
• Making Rocky Road
• Gift wrapping purchases in our new black tissue, coloured satin ribbon combo - makes me smile
• Watching mindless TV on youtube, like the latest ANTM
• Fresh frangipani flowers on my desk
• Eating old-skool After Dinner Mints...comforting childhood memories of corduroy, skivvies and intriguing adult laughter, late at night
• Fresh fruit salad (must have exotic fruit), balances out chocolate indulgence
• Wearing my lucky Poker Chip necklace by Trinket at all times
• The soothing sounds of B-Flo live at Abbey Road
• Creative outlet: winter shoot planning
• Taking first dibs at new Milk and Honey stock
  
• Practising what I preach and shopping online: here, here and here
• Planning my next trip to the states...in my head...got to start visualising
  
• Browsing in book stores, preferably Ariel, probably Borders
• Losing myself in photographs by Michael E. Gordon and Alicia Bock
  
• Speaking to my sisters on the phone
• Reading other blogs - Hula Seventy always inspires
  
• Having a laugh with Dan and Beth....a)when things go wrong b)over Beth's endless Borat and Will Ferrel impersonations c)when things go right
• Sleep
  

Getting the shot...

On a shopalog shoot we take 100s of photos. This is all in the hope that amongst them will be the winners - shots that convey the mood we intended, show the clothes the best, and a certain something in the face of the model.

To illustrate this, Daniel has created a stop animation video of our "stealing light" photo shoot. Taken at night, the light was obviously tricky as we were trying to get it from sources like signs, street lamps and shop windows.

There was no problem with our model Ash, who pretty much nailed the vacant-cyborg face and whose pale porcelain skin jumped out from the dark surrounds. It rained. And I mean torrential rain. But then if this hadn't happened, we would not have stumbled across the crazy Japanese game arcade, nor would the asphalt on the road have reflected up that gorgeous glossy glow, giving us that much needed Blade Runner edge.

822 frames for 10 perfect shots.

It's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

We are frantically trying to finish our Christmas and NYE shopalog, which is looking super hot. I called in a huge rack of samples (much to Daniel's dismay) which we have since shot on the lovely Manja and the original face of birdmotel, our sweet Louise. Can't wait for you all to see the results. We promise to work our butts off all weekend to make sure we deliver it to everyone's inbox early next week.

Killer Bronchitis

I was feeling a bit crook last week, so I rested Friday and on the weekend. Laying low. Then I went to the Killers concert on Sunday night. Well, what can I say? It was so unreal, just like I expected, and I screamed my lungs out – literally! As I now have full-blown bronchitis and feel like total death.

Do not regret it for a second though. We had pretty good seats, and even though I couldn’t quite make out Brandon’s face, just seeing him jump around the stage in those slim Dior pants and the little Western vest was enough to make me so happy.

My favourite song was Tranquilize, sung with Lou Reed on Sawdust, but live, it was just Brandon’s cool voice accompanied only with Dave on guitar. It was awesome because no one knew the song - everyone belted out all their other tunes at the tops of their voices - so in an auditorium of thousands of people, you could just sit, and listen and hang on every word. Wow.

Common Lily and Flowers

I have a big girl crush on Lily Allen. Love the fringe, and I think the 50s prom, green satin dress she wears in this clip with Common, is just gorgeous and suits her curves. She really does have GPS...like Brandon. He is so dorky cute in the Fashion TV interview. Can't believe that it is only two weeks to go to the Killers concert in Sydney, so excited. And who knew Ronnie was starting a denim label...mmmm, maybe he should stock birdmotel!

What I am loving now...

Girl

Erin Fetherston...as seen in UK Elle Decoration
I adore Erin's dreamy, pretty, little-girl-lost aesthetic. She has definitely become one of my favourite designers, and her latest collection at New York Fashion Week was so sweetly simple but ecletic. I love this washed silk dress the best: the slightly cropped blouson sleeves, the soft waist and the white 50s inspired geek-chic glasses!

Fetherston SS08 (image courtesy of style.com)

Colour

I can't get enough of big blocks of bright colours...and combining slightly off-key colours, like chartreuse with aquamarine, hot pink with watermelon, or violet with tangerine. I'm really excited about wearing in-your-face colour this summer, but even more excited that it will be sticking around as a major trend for winter next year.

Book

I didn't particularly love Miranda July's feature film Me and You and Everyone We Know, but I totally dig her quirky, vintage geek-girl style. Plus, I loved this short film called Are You The Favourite Person of Anybody? written by her. So, when I heard she had written a collection of short stories called no one belongs here more than you, I thought it would be worth a read. So far it has made me sad, and also laugh out loud. Highly recommended.

Music
I first saw the film clip for the song Lazy Eye by the Silversun Pickups about a month ago on Rage, and I just couldn't get the riff out of my head. Their whole CD is fab, so I was totally bummed I missed their gig here in Sydney.

Mag

Oh joy! Apparently I shrieked out loud when I saw the latest copy of Lula on the newsagent shelves yesterday. Stunning and inspirational as always, it heavily features one of my style icons Kirsten Dunst in some pretty amazing pictures.