P B & J

Introducing the new PB&J that’s the next best thing since old school Peanut Butter and Jelly – Paul’s Boutique and Jacaranda. When I was fourteen, or as we now like to say, a ‘twelvie’, I was a bit obsessed with obnoxious bags like the Juicy Couture daydreamer and the Paul’s Boutique Maisy in a shocking jelly pink. As popular Tumblr, PopCultureDiedin2009 reminds us on a daily basis, the days of velour sweats and Chihuahuas in rainbow monogrammed purses is long gone. Post-financial crisis, we are more thrifty, we crave quality, simplicity, capsule wardrobes and monochrome palettes.

Unfortunately, in the ever-changing consumer landscape, Juicy Couture failed to keep its footing despite growing from a $200 start-up to a $51 million USD company in the space of 6 years.

Fortunately, Paul’s Boutique kept up and rebranded and when I rediscovered their brand two months ago I was pleasantly surprised. There’s a lot of wonderful pieces from their newest collections that would work from the office to a casual day running errands. One of which, includes this black backpack from their 2015 Christmas collection which has been my go to summer bag. I was umming and ahhing between colours and I considered gold just because I thought it would be festive but I settled on black when I found out the inner flap has a bit of gold hidden inside … constrained festivity if you like. The bag is now on constant rotation and I like to style it with high waisted mum jeans, white tees, midi skirts and white kicks.

November is truly almost at its end so if you are looking to do some Christmas shopping, some of my favourite pieces are the Gwyneth Backpack, Maisy Handbag and Melissa Tote Bag. They package everything up real cute so its sure to be a winner under the tree. If you’re interested in seeing more BTS stuff from their holiday campaign, head over to their blog. To see how I dressed up this midi skirt in an older post, see ‘Create‘.

/ Gwyneth Backpack in Black (c/o) / Puma Cap / Forever New Skirt /

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YEARBOOK ONE

STYLE SMORGASBORD turns ONE today! How crazy is that … ? I think its particularly crazy because I launched SS on the day after I finished my HSC Exams and a year later I’m celebrating its birthday on the day after I finish my first year of university.

Sometimes I get into a funk because I question what I’ve achieved in the past 12 months but then I look back and I realise you know what, I actually did a lot blogging and life wise. But more on life stuff on New Year’s Eve. Halloween is the day we look back on SS.

Thank you to everyone who has ever stumbled upon SS. Whether that stumble ever led to a backtrack and an oh hey! I always appreciate your eyeballing, liking and commenting. I also want to thank all the people I know in real life – family and friends, that creep on my blog and are always too nice to say no when I ask for them to take photos of me. Thanks for feeling awkward behind the lens and going with it anyway ❤

I would like to think that year one was more of a testing the waters type thing. Style Smorgasbord gained some traction as to the general way blog posts are formatted in the last month and I intend to continue with this format for the near future. Here are some of my favourite blog posts: DIY Marble Side Table / Sun Salutations / Stay Gold / Entertainment By The Sea / Varsi-Prep and where it all began: Style. 

Finally, I have some goals for year 2 that I’ve been debating whether or not to write down but if I never put them out in the open, I’ll never have any motivation to achieve them so here we go:

• Invest in a new camera
• Move to WP.org and become self-hosted
• Change my blog’s design
• Increase consistency and frequency
• Develop a more recognisable brand

March On

I can’t believe we’re a quarter of the way into 2015 already! This month’s blogging schedule went to the grave as soon other responsibilities took priority and although its taken me a month, I think I’ve reached a level of discipline that by April, I should be able to scrape off a section of my plate for creating content. In the meantime, I’ve had a lot of time to think about whether or not to keep up with SS and I think blogging will intrinsically be a part of me so there’s really no point in deleting this when I’ll end up opening another. When I was younger, I used to create my own little magazines by cutting out pictures from other magazines and writing my own articles. I guess this blog is just an extension of that little girl ambition and if this creative endeavour ever takes me further than a hobby, print is where I want to be.

Entertainment front, I watched Insurgent – it was good at best but that’s how sequels are. My friend and I have this really weird guilty pleasure; we still keep up to date with Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. We’ve been watching this cute new show called Bella and the Bulldogs – its about a cheerleader turned quarterback on the football team. My brother and I also watch the Sacconejolys on YouTube – their videos will brighten your day instantly I promise. Just silly things that make me nostalgic. My favourite read was probably Attachments by Rainbow Rowell, I liked all the characters and I liked how it was set just as Y2K was about to happen.

Being on the move more often has meant consuming more beverages (at least for me!) The pink drink is a fruit whip – its like a fruit based slushy so you know less refined sugars … Some of my favourite snacks this month have also been peanut butter ice-cream from Coles, mini Tim Tams and coconut almond milk!

Just some shoe love for this month. Flats here and joggers here. I have my eye on a pair of over the knee suede boots and cut out ankle booties for fall. So ready for autumn weather to hug me like my sweaters. If you’re in the northern hemisphere, I hope April showers bring you flowers and if you’re in the south … I hope you can stop feeling sweaty all the time haha.