The Hunt For the Perfect Nude Bra

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Nude bras are boring. Plain and simple. But finding a good one is hard, and important. How many times have you reached for that cute top but it's a little bit sheer and your old nude bra just isn't doing it anymore (and neither is that cute zebra print one you got at Victoria's Secret last week). Well, I'm on the hunt for a good (for me) nude bra. With a bigger size bust (34D) I'm looking for something with support, but that seamlessly blends into my tshirt. 

Have you tried any of the ones above? Or do you have any other suggestions?

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Pretty, Quirky Fashion Featuring Handmade Designs + Why You Should Buy Independent

When I was contacted by the lovely Kirstie who represents Elegant Steps and Ptarmigan Clothing about an indie fashion post I knew I had to say yes! Here's Kirstie with a very convincing argument on why we should buy independent!

Flower Crown from Rock’n’Rose, Crystal Necklace from Crystal Cactus, Shoes from Elegant Steps, Bag from Ptarmigan, Dress by Caitlin Shearer, Ring by Gemleys.

In this modern era of mass production and shops that produce clothing that all looks the same, it’s no surprise people are finally seeing the benefits of shopping with independent designers and smaller businesses! We all love to look unique, and we all love owning items that have been made with love, and it’s even better to know that buying these beautiful things are helping to support indie businesses, who need your support the most.

Finding good indie businesses can be difficult at first, but if you search around, you’re bound to find a few gems! Firstly, there is of course, Etsy, an online marketplace where small-scale sellers can market their designs and creations, but there are other online marketplaces too! Try Boticca for example, where you’ll find more exclusive, expensive brands that have more of a designer feel. 

Another great tip is to scour through Pinterest. If you click a pin and follow it through to the source website, you can often find the business that was selling the item. Make sure you build up a little folder of bookmarks for your favourite indie shops so you don’t lose the links!

With indie shops, it’s the little things that make the big difference. Even if you can’t buy an item, if you’d like to offer some support, why not follow that business on social media, “like” their posts, and pin their items, so they get some increased exposure. It could take you seconds to do, but you’re helping someone who is passionate about their craft or hobby have a chance at doing their dream full-time!

People who own small, independent online boutiques tend to be artists and craftspeople, or business men and women who are just passionate about providing a more attentive service to their customers, and want to offer something a little different. Sure, now the fashion businesses who are multinationals are bigger than ever, but the indie community is thriving! So this year, why not think about buying your birthday presents on Etsy, or sourcing something special for Christmas from a smaller store? Chances are you’ll get loads of compliments about your taste, and best of all, it’s unlikely you’ll ever be wearing the same thing as anyone else! 

What are your favourite online boutiques?

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Festival Essentials (I'm Not Talking About Flower Crowns)

Yes, I'm still talking about Splendour in the Grass... Splendour was my first real festival, and I packed a whole bunch of clothes I never ended up wearing (see How to Pack for a 3 Day Festival) ! Although I saw a lot of girls wearing totally cute outfits, I found the whole thing pretty impractical. I'm all about the comfort, especially if I'm going to be dancing and listening to some awesome music! I thought I'd throw together a little guide of my festival essentials!

One: A long sleeve flannel shirt. Seriously, this is what I lived in at night. It was perfect and versatile, throw it around your waist (apparently that's in? see here, here, and here.) Roll the sleeves up, roll em down, whatever works!

Two: Denim cut off shorts. Okay, I know festivals are all about style and being girlie and boho and cute or whatever. But a cute pair of denim cut offs can handle dirt, can handle port-o-potties, and can handle your crazy ass dancing because duhr you're at the festival for the music!

Three: Cute dark coloured shorts. I'm just saying - you're going to get dirty. So if you feel like being a bit more cute and dressy, maybe get your lace on a little bit more practically in a dark colour with embellishments. Colours like black also mean you can wear them with a couple of different shirts which means more room for booze in your bag!

Four: A good cross body bag. A good cross body bag is vital to a successful festival journey. You want to be able to carry all of your necessities but still be able to wave your hands in the air like you just don't care! Something study, but comfortable and nothing to stiff or you'll get a lot of complaints in the mosh pit!

Five: Tall rain boots. This one is a little more festival specific, but seeing as Hunter has a whole line of Festival rain boots I'd say I'm not far off. We were ankle deep in mud at Splendour in the Grass, and merchants had big smiles on their faces selling overpriced plain black rain boots for $50 a pop to those who had forgotten to buy some. Buy yourself a nice pair and stash them in the car, you never know!

Six: A cute rain jacket. I'm just saying, those $2 plastic poncho things that they give you when you go under Niagara Falls are not cute. Or very practical, they fall off, they don't cover your arms, and they make whatever cute look you were going for look sad... and wet. Plus, if you're at a multi day festival they're hard to store! Do yourself a favour and get a cute rain jacket - maybe a clear one to show off the perfect festival look you've worked so hard to achieve? And don't forget to make sure it has a hood!

Seven: Stirrup leggings aka ski tights aka the only pants you need. I'm not a big advocate of leggings as pants, but at festivals anything goes. They're tough, they move and breathe when you're dancing, and they accept the 3 corn dogs you ate after spending $200 worth of  drink tickets at the Smirnoff tent... Stirrup leggings are the mother of all leggings (and totally 80s I might add) because they have that great little bit that goes over your foot. No more awkward legging coming out of the sock oh no I have cold ankles now feeling!

Eight: A cute tshirt. Something cheap like this one from Threadless (on sale for $5! Too bad there's only XXL left) that you can cut, rip, style however you like. 

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How to Pack for a 3 Day Festival

Recently, as you should probably know, I went to Splendour in the Grass. And it was AWESOME. Seriously, if you're ever in Australia around my birthday (end of July) shoot me a phone call and let's spend way to much money and go to Splendour in the Grass. Yeah? Yeah. The one thing that stressed me out before I went was wtf do I pack? The boyfriend and I ended up bringing an entire suitcase full of stuff between the two of us (but in our defense we went to Ballina and Byron Bay first and then headed to Gold Coast), but I thought I'd show you all of the clothes I needed to bring!

This was my go-to night time outfit, it's "winter" in Australia, and it does get a little too chilly for shorts at night! Leggings, whatever shirt I was wearing during the day, and a cozy oversized flannel shirt was the right amount of warmth and comfort, yet I thought I still looked pretty cool! Long socks are super important, and so are gum boots (rain boots, wellies, etc) for all of the mud! 

Day One: This is like my awesome pirate hooker outfit. I'm not entirely sure why I called it a pirate hooker outfit, just go with it. Singlet, booty shorts, bandanna, sunnies, gum boots, perfect. Shorts are perfect for peeing in porta potties. Gross, I know, but you don't want anything that dangles into the urine soaked floor. Yup. Moving on.

Day Two: Okay, so this one is like my... white rapper roadie outfit. The top is from Billabong (buy it, seriously) it's super lightweight with longsleeves (perfect for the sunburn miss pirate hooker probably got) but the trapeze style shirt makes it easy to breathe! Borrow the boyfriend's mesh snapback, booyah Ashton, they're back, and a nice dark pair of sunnies to hide those hungover eyes and again, long socks and gum boots. Mud, mess, repeat. 

Day Three: My hippie chick "Spendour, like, totally changed my life man" outfit. That was way less fun that pirate hooker. I really need to stop saying pirate hooker. That sweater is adorable and super fuzzy (but not in a fleece way) on the inside and although the sleeves are fit for a small child, they look cute pulled up. The shorts are a new fave of mine, scallops = love. End of story. That flower headband is actually a Splendour in the Grass purchase, it's super cute! And again, wellies. Yep.

These bad boys are AWESOME, I bought them from Target for $17 (I know, right) because someone told me that there might be mud at Splendour in the Grass. Ha. Some mud. But seriously, don't go to an overnight festival without some rain boots, just leave them in the car if you don't wear them but bring them. It's worth it. 

Do you have any other suggestions of what clothes to pack for a festival? 

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Style Inspiration: Festival Style

I don't know about you, but I love perusing Lookbook for inspiration of clothes I'll never own or wear... or maybe I will! My style has greatly progressed since the beginning of blogs and Lookbook, but I'm still a jeans and tshirt kinda girl. (Or a jean short and singlet kinda girl in Australia!)

Before I went to Splendour in the Grass I was looking for festival outfits. Here are a couple of my faves!

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Can I get one of all of those festival outfits in my size, and yes I'll take the amazing mane of red hair too. I love all these looks, but unfortunately not showering for four days and pretty much living in rain boots limited my fashion choices (or I'm just lazy... take your pick)

Do you have a Lookbook I can stalk?

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Etsy Crush: DiklaLevskyDesign!

While browsing Etsy, I stumbled upon Dikla Levsky and her lovely designs. She has amazing textile designs and original prints which come in the form of fabric, clothing, and prints!

These pillows are so cute!! They'd look amazing in a sunroom!

Eugh, that scarf! Geometric and purple and adorable!!! 

Same with it in blue!!

Currently, DiklaLevskyDesign is having a big sale, almost everything in the shop has been marked down! 

I'm going to have to thing about snatching up that purple scarf, it is too cute!!

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I love Micheal Kors Watches!

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How adorable are Micheal Kors Watches!? I'm obsessed!! 

Look at this sexy sleek black watch, I could just see it dressed up with a pair of studded heels and a leather mini!

I love the navy and rose combo, and then the monochromatic rose with the roman numerals! 

I absolutely adore this one, I could see it dressing up a pair of jeans or pairing with a sweet floral dress... Top of my must buy list!!

I really love the look of the solid metal, I think it's just so classy! I love the gold and white look, I bet it would look great with a poppy coloured blazer! Again, the rose metal is just so perfect and shiny! And the matte plum colour on the face is just perfect!

All pictures are from Bloomingdales, and you can shop using 20% for their friends and family sale, just use the code from Shannon Hearts HERE!

An increased heart rate is a sign of trouble...

"An increased heart rate is a sign of trouble. A racing heart could indicate anything from a panic disorder to something much more serious. A heart that flutters or one that skips a beat could be the sign of a secret affliction or it could indicate romance which is the biggest trouble of all."
-Meredith Grey

I've been watching a lot of Grey's Anatomy lately, I love love love it! I'm watching Season 2 right now, and all their drama seems silly compared to the later season drama!

Yesterday, I decided to gussy myself up for a sunny Sunday off with the boyfriend! These pictures aren't the greatest, I lost most of the light before i could get pictures taken!

Dress: Target

Shoes: Factorie

Rings and Necklace: Lovisa

I've been trying to take more pictures of myself - I'm really not photogenic at all! Awkward faces woo!

Lookbook Inspiration

Looking through lookbook and saving my favourite "one day I might actually wear these" outfits is one of my favourite past times. I have a whole folder full of LB inspirations, but I seem to be stuck in a shorts and tshirt style rut. I love the bohemian girlie hippie sort of vibe, but I'm always worried I can't pull it off!!

Anyways, here are some of my favourites lately!

one, two, three, four, five.

What is your style inspiration?

Preparing for Aussie "Winter"

Being from the "Great White North" winter to me means snow and Christmas. But of course, Australia likes to be backwards. I've been seeing tons of winter-y clothes pop up everywhere in the stores, and for the first time ever my birthday is going to be during the winter! There are my top must-haves for an Australian winter!

one, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

New Years Resolutions!

Hellooo 2013! 

We survived! I've been working my turkey dinners off (just kidding I was working so much I never actually got a turkey dinner) which is why I've been 100% MIA for the last month. But hey, this is my blog I DO WHAT I WANT. Just kidding I'm sorry I love you. 

click for a larger photo!

My NYE consisted of work until 11:45, making myself 10 minute pretty, and getting absolutely hammered with a former CFL player. I had a way better time than I expected and I seriously love all of my co-workers, they're like a second family to me, living and working together has made us so close, especially in this past month! 

The next day was basically a blur of work and coffee, but I did manage to jot down my resolutions for the upcoming year!

So these are my Resolutions! In case you can't read them they are:

1. Take 1 photo/day! I have a lot of exciting plans for the future, and even an instagram photo would do. I want to remember everything about 2013!

2. Blog once/week (at least!) I was trying to set reasonable goals. I want be more consistent with you little blog!

3. Get out of the country! So many plans, so little time... We'll see what the future holds ;)

4. Keep doing project life (2 pages/week) I just finished my cover pages and have started working on my pages for this week and I'm already freakishly addicted to this project!!

5. Work on my fitness once/week! Again, reasonable goals. I'm actually really happy with my body right now, you can check out my fitness blog and see how I do with this goal!

6. Skype/call/email the family once/week! I love my family sooo much, but I am the worst at keeping in touch!! I hope that will follow through with this one, it's probably the most important of all! 

7. Experiment more with fashion! Jeans and tshirts are getting boring. I've already started to branch out of my sweatpants bubble, but expect more OOTD posts in the near future!

8. Make the most out of 2013!! I want to live life to the fullest and take every opportunity that gets thrown my way! 

I am super excited to be starting a New Year, and I have a super positive outlook on the next 12 months - and beyond!! I hope everyone had an amazing night, a hungover next day, and are looking forward to this coming year as much as I am!!