With the lovely Amy Richards, Founder of Sterling & Hyde

 

This week I was given the kind invitation to attend the Sterling & Hyde launch for the Sterling & Hyde Custom line. Amongst those that were invited, I got to catch up with the wonderful Natasha from Breakfast with Audrey, Carrie from Dailyaddict and meet the gorgeous Margaret from Shinebythree as well as the Founder of Sterling & Hyde, Amy Richards.

Sterling & Hyde is Australia's first custom handbag design website which allows you to choose your own bag design, colour, material and hardware. There are 16 bag designs to choose from, ranging from overnight totes to iPad bags and all custom designs are sent within 6 weeks of creation. To ensure that you're happy with your custom-made arm candy, customers are offered a 100 day refund guarantee.



Above is Amy showcasing the design process of a Sterling & Hyde custom handbag. (Bloggers also pictured include: Lucy and the Runaways, Xssatstreetfashion and Mint Maison)

Last week I was also given the pleasure to attend the BRW Best Places to Work Awards at Hemmesphere. To see my article about the event click here.

This year in first, second and third place on the Best Places to Work in Australia list were: OBS, NetApp and Google respectively. E-Web Marketing took out the 4th spot this year which means that we have been in the top 10 for Best Places to Work in Australia for 3 years running!



My career journey (be warned: lots of reading awaits)
For those of you who have been asking, here is my (attempt of a) story.

Working at E-Web Marketing has been a great turning point in my life. Before I found my place here I dabbled around in various casual jobs to get me through my first few years of full-time uni, found an internship to dip my toes in the water and during my last year of University - I converted to part-time Uni when a full-time opportunity presented itself to me which I couldn't refuse.

I landed, what I thought was, my dream job at the time...and it turned out to be everything that I never wanted. It wasn't because I didn't love the freedom of creativity and the tasks I got given, it was because of the lack of trust in the work culture and month after month I'd overwork myself to pour my heart and soul into projects only to be given a myriad of false promises in return.

I soon realized that this wasn't for me and I'm glad I realized this quite early on in my career journey because I can now pass onto you, the most important lesson that I've learnt through this process:

Choose a job you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life. 

I was lucky enough to have already picked up some job skills when I reached my epiphany which lead me to finding my feet at E-Web Marketing. I guess I had to kiss a few frogs first before I found my prince ;)

I started to really enjoy myself at work and grew incredibly close to the E-Web family when I suddenly felt like I was hitting another brick wall. Sure the work culture is great and the office perks I'm grateful for, but when I looked at where I want to be in my career in 5, 10 and 20 years time, I knew I couldn't be an Account Manager forever.

I continued to run my POPSHOP on the side and dwell on the idea of taking this up as a full-time gig because it was something I was truly passionate about but I still didn't have the heart to leave my E-Web family at the time.

Then came the day when the stars suddenly aligned.

I had a Personal Growth Projection plan at work to plot what I wanted to achieve personally and professionally and the steps I'd have to take to get there. I had the support of wonderful peers to help me keep tabs of my progressions and take an interest in what I was also trying to achieve outside of work. Amongst these peers were Gary and Josh, E-Web's CEO and COO. 


Gary is a visionary nurturer of ideas. After a year of working at E-Web I'm still taken by surprise at the amount of attention he dedicates to his employees and the investment he puts into our futures. In recognising what I was pursuing outside of work, he discussed some ideas with me and before I knew it I was given the generous offer of playing a lead part in a jewelry business venture.

From E-Web Account Manager to Head of eCommerce for Bellagio & Co., not only am I able to now do what I love, I'm also still able to continue working in an office that I love amongst my new found E-Web family. On top of this, I'm being mentored weekly by the most inspiring and successful people I know: E-Web's CEO and Andrew Morello, the previous winner of The Apprentice who has also partnered to embark on this Bellagio journey.

So, to answer my suddenly hot Formspring topic for the month:
Bellagio & Co will be Australia’s online boutique supplier of European Designer Inspired Jewellery. We are currently operating in Melbourne and Sydney and specialising in selling as well as hosting showcasing events and parties with Bellagio 925 sterling silver jewelry.

I am enthralled with excitement to partake in setting up the foundations and continuously sharing with you my experiences in planting this business and watching it grow. In other words, watch me as I grow up in this big big world! Haha

So for those that have read this far. If you would like to apply for a job at E-Web or just take a tour of our pimpin' office. Register here!

In other news, coming up in my next post will be all the new additions to ANNIEPOPSHOP and my review on the China Glaze collection of Magnetix nail polishes. Below is a swatch of Pull Me Close.

Caviar Nails

Caviar nails using microbeads

This week I used microbeads to recreate Ciate's caviar nail polishes in black pearl and rainbow. Ciate's caviar varnishes should really come with this pre-warning for nail biters: "Beware: This fairy bread-esque manicure is highly likely to reinduce your bad habit....oh and its probably not a good idea to ingest the beads either." It just looks so darn delicious!



Ciate's polishes retail for £18.00/bottle which is about $28 AUD exclusive of postage & handling costs (approx another £30). So...I'm asian and I'm here to show you the inexpensive way to get the same look hahaha

1. Buy some microbeads from eBay. You can find individual colours starting from $4.50 but I bought a kit of 12 colours which came with a small spoon and spare container for $46.28 incl. p&h from this eBay seller

2. Find a small bowl which is going to capture the excess beads when you sprinkle them on your nails.


3. Scoop your chosen colour combination into the spare container using a small spoon. Close the container and shake it all up.



4. Paint the first layer on nail polish on all of your nails. For my black polish I used China Glaze's Liquid Leather, for the pink polish I used OPI's Mod About You.

5. Choose one nail to paint your second coat and while your nail is still wet, place your finger over your bowl and you can either scoop up the beads with your spoon and sprinkle it on the nail or just simply pick up the small container and pour it on top.

Only do one nail at a time so that your varnish is still wet enough to capture the beads.

Use another finger to just pat it all down and once you wait until your nails are dry you can paint a top coat. I didn't paint a top coat in this case only because I've run out of my base and top coat varnishes :(


Pros: 

• You don't need a lot of beads to cover one nail (half a teaspoon can easily cover an entire nail..or two) so your small container of microbeads will last you a very long time! 
• This is the easiest manicure to do, even for those who aren't ambidextrous like myself
• Unlike most glitter polishes, the microbeads are very easy to remove
• Your finger nails look delectable and are weirdly fun to touch 

Cons: 

• Making rice paper rolls with these nails were a nightmare because I kept on finding microbeads in my food. I had the same experience when I tried to wash the dishes.
• Regardless of whether you use the top coat, the beads will fall off quite quickly. Without a top coat my nails only lasted 2 days

And on a completely unrelated topic I've become absolutely obsessed with a list of things recently. I'll probably save my undying love for fairy lights, hanging cliff cabanas, beachside canopies, infinity pools, fire places, circle beds, hot air balloons and the northern lights in Norway for another post. I'll also soon let you in on the changes that have been happening in terms of work and my new role. Things have been very exciting!

As of late I've been able to see life from a whole new perspective and its given me a wonderful warm tingly feeling of gratitude. So, hi life - I can't tell you how grateful I am to have you (:

Just a thought

Top by Seduce, ANNIEPOPSHOP long gold cuff 

A friend said to me a little while ago: “Its sad, how love can turn into hate so fast” And it really is.

Most of us don’t realize that there is actually a very thin line between the two and in most cases; the only thing that separates it is trust. The reason why love turns into hate so fast is because the person you love is the last person you would expect to hurt you... so when it happens, it can make you feel like you’re broken beyond repair. Then the conflict that occurs between your emotions and the reality of the situation can make you do irrational things.

Sometimes you start making excuses for the person you love. You tell yourself stories to justify their actions so that you’re able to forgive them and as soon as they tell you exactly what you want to hear, that can be all it takes to turn you around. Why? Because you’re holding onto the happiness that you’ve felt with them in the past and the hope that it’ll get better in the future. When you hold onto these feelings, for some strange reason words start speaking louder than real actions.

 Sometimes it can make you bitter. But you’re strangely not bitter towards the person you love, you’re bitter at whoever else is involved even when it isn’t necessarily their fault that you got hurt in the end. You do this because you tell yourself that the other person was the provoker/instigator/initiator/intruder/every-other- condemnatory-name-you-can-think-of-under-the-sun and you fail to see the truth in the matter.

And other times, you blame it on the fact that they’ve changed and when you forgive them it’s because you think you can change them back. Except, in reality we don’t spontaneously or irrationally do things because at that particular moment in time we decided to change as a person. In fact, our actions are always deeply rooted to the type of person we are. You need to realize that they haven’t changed, the only thing that has changed is the amount of effort that they’ve decided to put into their relationship with you.

 It doesn’t matter what type of person they are, who was involved, who was at fault, what setting it happened in, the timing of it all and why. If keeping you in their lives isn’t enough motivation for them to do the right thing by you. You need to find the good in goodbye.

 No, let me rephrase.

 You will find the good in goodbye.

 And for everything that they wouldn’t do for you, someone else will.

---------------------------------------------

For the past few weeks I haven't had the opportunity to take pictures for ye olde blog like I used to. Since I don't have any professional equipment I rely heavily on natural light and with how the weather has been lately I haven't been able to get much done.

Instead I've spent a copious amount of time in bed like this:

I also got a chance to restock some old popular items in ANNIEPOPSHOP as well as get a few new things.

 

ANNIEPOPSHOP Gold Hair Tie $7.00. Click here for more.


Hope you've all been happy and well!

Blogger Breakfast & Graduation

Wearing the Lightness of Being Bolero in Gold by Coco Ribbon

Coco Ribbon Eden prints

The goody bags and look books

The gorgeous Tash from Breakfast With Audrey


My agenda for the weekend was to finally get my blog out of its outfit post drought but with the chaotic weather outside there are two reasons why I haven't been able to do so: 

1) I caught a cold 

2) Quite frankly the only new items of clothing that I've accumulated this month consists of fluffy bathrobes and long toe socks. Attractive. 

But I guess I can share with you what I got up to this week. Apart from work and all the normal shenanigans, I did get to do two new things:

1) Attend the Bloggers Breakfast at Park Avenue for the unveiling of the Spring/Summer 2012 collection for Coco Ribbon, Viktoria + Woods, Steele, Sterling & Hyde, Pratten, L'avion and Sophi Odling

2) Finally graduate from University!

The girls at Park Ave are gorgeous and I also got to finally meet a few of the faces behind the sites that I creep. That's right, I creep. Don't pretend like you don't do it! Jess from Jesslovesfred is an absolute sweetheart for showing me around and introducing me to the other lovely ladies, it was good meeting you all and I look forward to seeing you again ...in the mean time I'll continue to creep ;)

So that you can also creep:
jesslovesfred // originalnumber // xxsatstreetfashion // lucyandtherunaways // devious-studios // littleblackbook // couturecaddy // darkbluestripes

Now onto Thursday, Graduation Day. With advice from friends I decided to wear a red dress under my gown so I could have a pop of colour and when my dear family showed up to the Graduation hall my mum had on her red dress, dad wore his red tie and my brother advised them to get me red flowers. They are the absolute sweetest!

Graduated 2012 - UTS Bachelor Degree of Business

and to all mums, especially to my mother bear; for all their hard work, love and care - Happy Mothers Day!

Styletread and Unleash The Power Within

With Styletread CEO or should I say Chief Happiness Officer - Mark Rowland

Styletread is Australia's number 1 online shoe store and this week I was given the wonderful opportunity to come down and visit their office and warehouse. We were given a tour by their very own Mark Rowland - I got the chance to sign their walls, we played fooseball, table tennis and even stayed for their Friday afternoon games. The Styletread team are such a great bunch of people, their smile and game filled office is one to envy and Mark is such a warm-hearted guy, they made us feel right at home!

Mark really reminds me of my CEO, Gary, in many ways. Gary looks after the E-Web Marketing family as if we were his own and on top of the work environment, perks and facilities - what makes it truly invaluable to work at E-Web is the friendships you build, the support from your peers and having a CEO that always has your best interests at heart. I've been here for almost a year now and I really can't imagine myself anywhere else.

On top of the opportunities that I've been given, Gary gave me the amazing gift of VIP tickets to Anthony Robbins' Unleash the Power Within 4-day seminar which I attended last weekend. Anthony Robbins is a successful entrepreneur and a life coach to our world leaders (including Oprah, Deepak Choprah and Bill Clinton). Over the 4 days Anthony gave us the tools and pillars we need to succeed in all areas of our life and the first night involved the famous 'firewalk'.

I can now truthfully say that I have walked over burning coal at 400 - 800 degrees celsius. There is no fear left in me and definitely no heels too high! And there's my victory face to prove it.. 

Anthony articulated everything in a way that I could never replicate, he's truly inspirational and although it sounds silly to say - I feel like within those 4 days, I've changed a lot as a person. Yes, that's right, my first deep and meaningful blog post begins here. I'm about to make myself very vulnerable but I feel comfortable enough to do it now, even if it doesn't resonate with people well.

It was really strange, the timing of things. Not long before I attended the seminar, I felt like I was at breaking point but because I had wonderful friends and family, a great job and a roof over my head... I couldn't justify my feelings. I thought of myself as a selfish person to feel like I'm dying on the inside when there were much bigger problems in the world. So of course I forcibly suppress my thoughts and carried on with my day-to-day, the only time I could beat myself up over anything was when I was alone.

I guess on top of recent occurences and normal teenage heartbreak, in the past there have also been moments in my life that have left me feeling helpless. I've never shared those with anybody else even though I knew that it had shaped me to be the overly insecure and sensitive person that I've become. Then, just when I felt like things have finally shaped up and that I could be comfortable in my own skin again - I had all those good feelings ripped straight out of me and into the pool of self-pity that I've collected for myself over the years. Unspeakable thoughts then crossed my mind that made me question my purpose for everything.

Anthony taught me so many things that I didn't even know about myself. I've been able to confront my fears, my limiting beliefs in life, tell those dark memories to 'get stuffed!' and I'm hungry for success. I know where to get it and I'm confident that I will.  

One of the things that stood out to me about his lesson in love was that there were four types. The first type of love is when it is just demanded, the second type is when you give love and expect it in return, the third type of love is when you love somebody with exceptions but you don't ask for anything back - you just love because it's what you do. Then the last type of love is one where you love a person even if they hurt you.

Although I can't help the type of love I give and feel to somebody else. I need to be wary and strong. I can't keep those around me that are able to bring themselves to hurt me time and time again.

I'll stop rambling now. I actually don't know what I'm trying to say but it feels good to type the first things that come to mind. I no longer have any shame in it! Haha

6 days ago I also started to capture and upload pictures of everything that I eat throughout the day to keep track of my diet via tumblr. Not that it's a thrilling blog but I'd love for you to give me a slap on the wrist whenever I eat something bad from now on!

 www.annietumble.tumblr.com

Forever and a day

American Apparel Blouse & Pants, Valleygirl Belt, Anniepopshop cuff, YSL ring


"And then you meet someone.
Someone that makes you realize why it never worked out with anybody else."

Hope everybody had a wonderful Easter Long Weekend!

Thailand

The boundless and beautiful Thailand. Where I fell in love with baby elephants, celebrated my birthday at the Full Moon Party, quadbiked through a jungle, kayaked in the pouring rain, hiked to see a lagoon, shot a real gun, hung with Brad and Ange at the wax museum and made a wish as I set my first floating lantern free.

I wished for better tomorrows, I wished to be free of angst and I realized then, that maybe, my fear of the unknown is what sets me up for failure and disappointment. The only things that are in my way now are my own preconceptions about life.

So,

Dear present Annie,

Just know that..with the baggage in your heart, you will find someone who loves you enough to help you unpack.

Much Love,

Future Annie with a heart full of smiles.

Happy to be back!