Happy Anzac Day!

Today, 25th April, is ANZAC Day. It is celebrated by both Australia and New Zealand to honour members of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps who fought in Gallipoli during World War I.

A long standing tradition is to bake ANZAC biscuits, baked by anxious wives and mothers during World War I and sent to the Australian soldiers in the trenches.
I have been using this recipe for years to make these biscuits, no idea where I got it from (it's scrawled down in my handwriting) but it has never failed me. Enjoy!

Image by jo_inaus

Ingredients:

125g butter
4 tablespoons golden syrup
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1 tablespoon boiling water
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup desiccated coconut

Method:

1. Melt together the butter and golden syrup in a saucepan over a low heat.

2. In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, brown sugar and coconut.

3. Dissolve the baking soda in the boiling water, add to saucepan.

4. Combine liquid and dry ingredients.

5. Spoon onto baking/grease-proof paper

6. Bake in a 160 degree Celsius oven for around 15 mins (this depends on your oven, so check the biscuits after 10 mins)

These biscuits are so moreish they won't be around for long! (Warning - the batter tastes almost as good as the finished product)

xx Love Swah

Travel complaints

I will be starting a regular travel section soon of different cities I have been to with accommodation recommendations, sightseeing tips, dos and don'ts, shopping advice and my own photos! This is honest travel advice from a girl in her early 20s, not the faux hype written by a 40+ jaded travel reviewer (who was probably paid by the hotel for a good recommendation!)
There will be a variety of pricing options for all budgets, but I will be focusing on the (relatively low) budget of a young girl in her late teens/early-mid 20s who is ready to take on the world!

I would like to start with some hilarious travel complaints from around the world, compiled by the Association of British Travel Agents and Thomas Cook:

* My fiance and I booked a twin-bedded room, but we were placed in a double-bedded room. We now hold you responsible for the fact that I find myself pregnant.

* A British tourist found their holidays were spoiled because "the beach was too sandy" and "no one told us there would be fish in the sea; the children were startled".

* We bought Ray-Ban sunglasses for five euros ($9) from a street trader, only to find out they were fake.

* The brochure stated: "No hairdressers at the accommodation." We're trainee hairdressers — will we be OK staying here?

* There are too many Spanish people. The receptionist speaks Spanish. The food is Spanish. Too many foreigners.

* We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as yellow but it was white.

* We had to queue outside with no air-conditioning.

* I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts.

* It's lazy of the local shopkeepers to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during "siesta" time — this should be banned.

* I was bitten by a mosquito — no one said they could bite.

* We booked an excursion to a water park but no one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels.

After I dried my tears from laughter, it made me realise some people should never, ever travel. Maybe that is too harsh.

xx Love Swah

Etsy update from Love Swah

Hey Guys,

Sorry I have been quiet the past few days, a combination of ridiculous amounts to do at work and being sick for a while!
I have managed to list a few more things on http://loveswah.etsy.com



This necklace sold as soon as I listed it! Will have to make more of this design...


More designs to be uploaded in the coming days...

xx Love Swah

Agent Provocateur - new swimwear line

I was very excited to find out lingerie maestros Agent Provocateur have just released a new swimwear line! Polka dots, gingham, bows - I think I am in love! Although is it just me or are these images waaay over-Photoshopped??






Available for purchase at Agent Provocateur's online store

xx Love Swah

Mad Men

I am sure all you retro fashionistas are familiar with the television show Mad Men. I was very pleased to hear it is making it's debut on Australian free-to-air TV next week!



For those of you not familiar with the show, it is a stylist cult series set in the glamorous world of advertising in New York in the late 50s/early 60s. The series revolves around the conflicted world of Don Draper the biggest ad man (and ladies man) in the business, and his colleagues at the Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency. As Don makes the plays in the boardroom and the bedroom, he struggles to stay a step ahead of the rapidly changing times and the young executives nipping at his heels. The series also depicts authentically the roles of men and women in this era while exploring the true human nature beneath the guise of 1960s traditional family values.


The fashion, styling and set design is breathtaking and painstakingly accurate, featuring bullet bras, full-skirted dresses with pinched waists, curve-skimming dresses and Peter Pan collars coupled with pleated skirts.


Mad Men airs Thursdays at 8.30pm on SBS.

xx Love Swah

Love Swah in etsy treasury

A piece of my jewellery was recently featured in an etsy treasury - my first time ever! So I was quite pleased :)


You can purchase this necklace at http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16746644

Or check out other items at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5889413

I am working madly over this Easter weekend and will hopefully have some more pieces up on etsy soon!!

xx Love Swah

Alice in Wonderland by Annie Leibovitz

Sure the Alice in Wonderland theme has been done to death, but when the amazing Annie Leibovitz is photographing and the gorgeous Natalia Vodianova starring, the result is breathtaking and unique. You can also play "spot the designer" in each picture!












xx Love Swah

Retail Therapy and Shopping Adventures

There is nothing like a bit of retail therapy to lift one's mood is there? The rush you get when you find the perfect item, the instant gratification, the joy of contributing to your ever growing wardrobe.
Then comes the guilt when you realised you burned through $500 in under an hour.

My name is Swah and I am a shopaholic.

Thankfully I am very talented at justifying my purchases. I have just ripped out around 20 pieces of clothing from my wardrobe to sell on eBay (stay tuned for auction links in the coming week). And also our lovely prime minister Kevin Rudd will soon be handing out $900 to me as part of the government's stimulus package. I am just doing my bit to help Australia and stimulate the economy!

About half of the money spent on the weekend was on a skirt. I don't usually spend that much on a skirt but this one was special. As soon as I had seen images of it plastered up around the city I had to stop and gasp, in awe of its beauty. I MUST have it. Unfortunately the rest of Sydney seemed to think the same thing, and by the time I had gotten to the store Cue it was sold out! I visited a few other Cue stores around Sydney but sadly the story was the same, they were either sold out or had an impossibly small or large size remaining.

Then, whilst casually browsing through the Cue concession at Myer on Saturday, I spotted a bit of houndstooth fabric poking out from a rack. I grabbed it, preying to various gods that it was in my size but holding out little hope... But thankfully the fashion gods were feeling gracious that day and YES it was in my size!! Success!! I patted myself on the back. Now bask in its glory:

Houndstooth, pencil skirt, high waisted, giant bow. It ticks all the right boxes! Although I will never look as hot at the delicious Cue model Jessica Hart, I can damn well try. For more delicious outfits from cue (and gorgeous fashion drawings) check out www.cue.cc

xx Love Swah

Let the Right One In

I recently had the pleasure of seeing Swedish vampire flick Let the Right One In. Hauntingly beautiful, creepy, heart wrenching and at times funny. This is everything Twilight is not.


"A fragile, anxious boy, 12-year-old Oskar is regularly bullied by his stronger classmates but never strikes back. The lonely boys wish for a friend seems to comes true when he meets Eli, also 12, who moves in next door to him. But Elis arrival coincides with a series of gruesome deaths and attacks. Though Oskar realizes that she's a vampire, his friendship with her is stronger than his fear... "

I was hesitant to see this film at first as I *hate* scary films. I saw The Ring and didn't sleep properly for weeks, terrified a creepy girl would get me in the night! However the amazing reviews I had been reading compelled me to go.

Let the Right One In doesn't resort to cheap scares like its American counterparts. While there are definitely creepy and suspenseful parts that had me hiding behind my boyfriend, it is well done and appropriate.

In Sydney it is currently showing only at the Palace Cinemas.
http://www.palacecinemas.com.au/

Check it out!



xx Love Swah

New Chanel Ad with Audrey Tatou

My favourite luxury brand + my favourite actress + my favourite director. I AM IN HEAVEN! That’s right, Chanel + Audrey Tatou + Jean Pierre Jeunet = new commercial (which I am assuming will be divine!)

Hearts fluttered when Audrey Tautou was announced as the new face of Chanel No5. By the end of this month, the Chanel website will release a teaser of the new “mini-movie” featuring the Amelie star.
The entire campaign will be available online on May 5th, with a print ad shot by Dominique Issermann, and an edited version for TV released soon after.

The new commercial, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (who also directed Tautou in Amelie and A Very Long Engagement) is set on the Orient Express as it travels between Paris and Istanbul. It tells the story of love between two strangers - posing the question of “What if?” – unveiling it to the sounds of Billie Holiday's I'm a Fool to Want You.

The ad will replace Baz Luhrmann’s overly extravagant production which ran for five years and featured a fluttering Nicole Kidman bestrewn with feathers- and cost many millions to make.

xx Love Swah