Storytime with Chelsea

I have been super busy this week and desperately need a weekend to
catch up on all my blogging. I am really sorry I haven't been posting
regularly! I have been busy doing things like eating this:

Krispy Kreme! You can't get real donuts in New Zealand, I swear.
These are Australian imports hahahah, like actually.

And this...

Hot Lava Fudge cake at my friend's birthday...mmmmm. So rich though.
If that wasn't obvious already haha.

And these...

Does this really need a caption? No, no it doesn't. But I just made one. Oops.

Okay, sorry.
I'll stop.
But seriously, I have been really busy.
So instead of posting something meaningful and beautiful,
I will tell you this hilarious story.
Please be warned that I may or may not be the only person who finds
this as funny as it actually was...
So anyway -- when I was like fifteen or something, my best friend and I
decided we were going to make cookies.
Just sugar cookies, nothing too crazy {so we thought}.

All was going well, mixing flour and sugar and whatever else, and I get to the milk.
By this point, we had got flour everywhere. We are a mess and so is the kitchen.
I look down at the floury cookbook to find that the instructions are telling me to
add four cups of milk. Now I'm no professional baker, so this never occurred to me
that that's a lot of milk for a dozen or so cookies.
In goes four cups of milk.
An entire bowl full of milk later, I realize something is wrong here.
More flour is added to balance out all the milk.
Something is definitely wrong.
I look back at the cookbook, now realizing that under the flour mess,
there is a 1/ beside that 4. Which equals 1/4. Not 4.
Oops.
We added more sugar to balance it all, baked approximately 4,000 cookies,
and proceeded to throw them all out once we tasted how gross and flavorless
they were.

Needless to say, I don't bake often anymore.
And when I do, I triple-check those directions.
Anyone else have any crazy baking/cooking mishaps?
Help me feel not so alone!

OH HAPPY DAYS!

There is this sign at this shoe store I go to often that says:
"Shoes make me happy.
I'm superficial. Whatever."

That kind of describes me at this moment.
No, not because I bought shoes.
Although that does make me very happy.
But because last night, at approximately 5:54pm I handed
over the big bucks and got a sleek and sexy iPhone 4s!!!!

It's honestly beautiful.
New electronics make me happy.
I'm superficial. Whatever.
BUT SERIOUSLY YAY!

Recommend me apps, my friends. 
Mucho love <3

PS - sorry I have been M.I.A. the last few days, I had a super
busy weekend and it's a good friend of mine's birthday this week
so we've had dinners and desserts and I've had heaps of work and
iPhone buying, etc. I will be back on the ball for the rest of the week
though! {I hope, haha.}

PPS - did I mention that I can now upload photos to Instagram every
second of the day like the rest of you lovely bloggers?
I am beyond excited.

Mani - Monday

So this is my first time linking up for Mani - Monday, and I'm pretty excited!
I have only recently found love for wearing nailpolish all the time.
I hate not having it on my toes, but I've never worn it on my fingers much,
mostly because I was too lazy to do the "up-keep" that comes with having
painted nails. I hate when they start chipping! Oh well. Life's not easy, haha.

I have been experimenting with some Pinterest inspired nails lately, and
I am loving what I've done so far. I'm a big fan of the "accent" nail, like
having a complementing color on your ring fingers. Anyways - here's
my nails from recently and the past week!

A flourescent-y orangey red with a silver sparkly accent nail.
A couple fingers has started chipping at this point so please don't judge me ahaha.
{Check out the pretty ring my boyfriend got me for our 2 years! I love it}

Mint nailpolish with silver sparkles coming up from the bottom and a blue sparkle
accent nail. I didn't want to do the accent nail on this one, but I ran out of polish
remover and the sparkles from my last nailpolish-doing were impossible to get off.
So I just went over it with blue sparkles instead haha.

Close-up of the sparklies on the bottom of my nails. I love this mint color!

And just for fun, my growing collection!

Dressing For Sun

As you may or may not know, I live in New Zealand right now.
But I'm from Canada and my body is fully programmed for it to be starting
summer now...however here it's going into winter. So confusing for my
poor brain. Anyways, I thought I would cheer my winter blues up with
sharing some of my favorite summer styles with you lovely ladies.
We've just ended summer here, and I have to say:
New Zealand girls are the best dressed girls I've ever seen.
They are so classy but still with their own quirks in their styles.
Being here has influenced my own style so much that I'm constantly
getting comments from friends back home about how they love how I am
dressing. Gives me a bit of a big head to be honest! Alright, on with it.

source: SheInside
Anything sheer/chiffon was huge here this summer. The flowy-ness of these
tops are so nice in the heat. Plus it hides your tummy, so you can eat tons at all those BBQs.

source: E's Closet Boutique
How pretty are these? Wedges were so popular this summer.
They are the comfiest dressy-up shoe ever! I can last all day in these babies.

no source available.
Super easy summer style: a loose fitting tee, denim shorts and lots of pretty
accessories. Who doesn't look good in accessories?

source: Revolve Clothing
In total and complete love with colored skinny jeans this summer. I want this color
so badly. And a coral pair. If these colors are too intense for you, try something
more neutral like a dark burgundy or dark plum!

Currently Loving...

These Days Are Ours by Michelle Haimoff - a really good book!
It follows a girl in her early twenties through normal everyday life post 9/11.
Definitely a good read, I found it had really good dialogue {does that sound weird?}

I Am A Hutterite by Mary-Ann Kirkby - I couldn't put this one down.
I had a totally different view of Hutterites before I read this...definitely recommend reading this too.

Okay, you have to read this too. Such an amazing book.
Hits especially close to home if you know anyone with autism.

Instagram - Ok so it's nothing new, but I totally wish I had an iPhone
specifically for this. Instagram is pretty awesome, but I've only got an iTouch
so I can't just upload pictures on the spot {I have to have an internet connection}
which sucks. I can't wait to get an iPhone later this year!

Sony NEX-5 - So we've all heard my blab on and on about this one,
but seriously if you want the quality of a DSLR camera but with the convenience
{size and use} of a point and shoot camera, this is it. Thanks Erin for inspiring me to get this!

Without Instagram, how would we capture delicious moments like
this before they are eaten? That's what I thought.

Bloggie-world - I feel so blessed to be part of the blogging world now..it's
pretty amazing I must say. I can't believe I've been missing out on all of this for
so long! I have met some pretty awesome ladies through blogging and it has only
just begun. I would love to go to one of the conferences one day...oooh man.

Winter clothing - I LOVE winter clothing. It's definitely my favorite!
Don't get me wrong, I love the breeziness of summer dresses and wearing shorts,
but you can layer in winter! Scarves, knit sweaters, boots. Ugh, I love it all.
Too much. My wallet doesn't love it. Nor my boyfriend {well actually he does,
I just like to shop in winter. Even more than I already like to shop}.
PS I bought three pairs of boots today. Oops.

Bundling up in scarves: my #1 love. So cozy all the time.

Chai Tea Lattes - I honestly have these like every single day. I'm obsessed.

The Real Housewives of the OC/Vancouver - I am addicted
to both of these shows. They are so so so good. By good, I just mean super dramatic
which makes it good for me to watch. Entertaining may be the better word. Tamra is
definitely my OC favorite and Christine is my Vancouver favorite.

Not exactly relevant to this post but this burger was as big as my face. Yum.

By the way, you might have thought my winter clothing point was totally random
but in New Zealand the seasons are opposite...so when it's summer in North America
it's winter here. I think people generally know that, but if you didn't...crazy right?
This also means Christmas here is summer. Like, dead of summer.
As in, we sat by the pool and ate seafood for Christmas this year.
Yes, it was super weird. Yes, I did miss the snow and hot chocolate and turkey.
But it was a cool experience.

Just Another Manic Monday?

Nope. Mondays are my relaxing days.
I work Tuesday to Friday full time, and I love having the extra day off.
Sometimes I am more tired after the weekend than I was when I was done
work on Friday!
How does that work?
I'm sure most of you can relate to that, though.
We are busy bees all week, some of us coming home from work only to
want to eat dinner and go to bed, which doesn't leave much time to catch
up on anything else.
By the time the weekend comes around, there's so much you want to
pack into two days...when it's all over it feels like you've had no break at all.

Time management - I need me some of that.
Desperately.
If anyone has tips....do share. I would love to hear them.
Some of you might be thinking "honey, you don't even have kids yet!"
And I know.
I need some serious time management skills before then.

So back to Mondays.
They are my {much-needed} break from the weekend.
My boyfriend is one of those going non-stop people, he gets
super restless if we are sitting at home.
He doesn't know how to relax.
So we spend the weekends doing one thing after another and by the
time Monday rolls around I am dead.
I love having this day off.
I get to catch up on all my bloggie-stuff, draft some posts for the
hectic week to come, and clean up from the mess of the previous week.

I literally just spent an hour folding clothes that were strewn across our
bedroom. I just can't find the energy to organize {or do anything, for that matter}
by the time I get home after a long work day.
Like I said, I need to do some serious time management lessons.
How do you guys do it {mamas especially!}?