.To Do In Melbourne: Part 2.

The weather this week is GORGEOUS! It even reminds me of Australia spring time, which just makes it all a little bit better. Since I can't stop thinking about Australia it seemed like the best time to share with you Part 2 of what to do in Melbourne. Missed Part 1? No worries, you can check it out right....here!

6. Flinders Street Station
Flinders Street Station is one of my favorite stations in the whole city..or state, maybe even the country. It was so beautiful to look at, especially at night. We didn't see much of the inside of the station due to not needing to take the train, but i do hope it's as great as the outside. You can find this station just across from the popular Federation Square, where people like to meet up and hang out, making it a great place to people watch.

7. St. Paul's Cathedral

The architecture and beautifully designed church can leave you speechless. Dave and I spotted the church across from Federation Square and immediately wanted to get a closer look. Usually, I don't like to go into churches because I feel like I am breaking up someone's spiritual time and interfering with things. I also just admire from the outside, however I am appreciative of Dave for pulling me in. The inside of the church is magnificent and wonderfully crafted. This is definitely a place to check out and get lost in beauty. 

8. Hosier Lane

When walking down the street....Swanson Street, I think...we stumbled upon this gem in the city! This little alleyway is filled with graffiti. Every square inch on the buildings has this great, creative, street art spread over it. I think I took a picture of almost every graffiti piece, but for your sake I will just show you a few of my favorites!

9. ANZ Bank/Gothic Bank

This is probably the greatest bank in the whole world...well, not ANZ itself, but this location!! Did you know in Australia the pronounce it as A-N-Zed? Yep! This is one of the first banks I have seen in a gothic revival architecture and it blew me away. I used to be a bank teller and I would LOVE to work in a bank this gorgeous. The pictures below is where the banking takes place as well as the former stock exchange floor. 

10. Ride on the Great Ocean Road

The Great Ocean Road is called one of the worlds beautiful highways and rightfully so. The Great Ocean Road is 240km long with a view of the ocean almost the whole time. At times during our travel on the road we had the ocean on one side and the rolling green farm lands on the other side...just amazing. When on the Great Ocean Road make sure you stop at Apollo Bay, view the 12 apostles, London Bridge, and take it in slowly..you definitely do not want to rush through! We were able to book a day tour through our hostel and it was a great deal for a whole day of beautiful sights!

We spotted this cutie at one of our stops on the tour!

My last tip for everyone when visiting Melbourne is to go online and see what community events are taking place! When we were there a Summer Series of events as taking place in the Fritzroy Gardens every Saturday night. So we walked over to the gardens for a picnic, Bollywood music, and Bollywood dancing. The best part of the whole night was being able to be with a large number of the community and having a blast doing dance moves with strangers and feeling like we were citizens for a night!

The best thing about Melbourne 

is never knowing what you are going to find!!

.Tuesday Tunes: St. Patrick's Day Mix.

Are you spending this week getting ready for St. Patrick's Day? I know that I am! I am deciding how to wear my green so I don't get pinched, what Irish foods to make, and how to decorate our apartment a little. One thing I don't have to worry about is figuring out our music to get us in the right Irish state of mind! And now you can cross that off your list too..see how nice I am by sharing with you!

Here is a great St. Patrick's Day mix that you can use to get you ready for the day and to play the day of when you have people over!  

You can also check out The Pogues from last weeks Tuesday Tunes, here, 

AND

 this Saturday pop back over for some more Irish inspired music from Dropkick Murphy's!

ENJOY!

p.s. If you really wanted to help make this week awesome for me...I wouldn't mind a few new followers on the blog...I'm just saying, it would make me feel like I had the luck of the Irish! heee heee

What I Wore: Application Collecting

With moving to a new area comes the wonderful job search. When there are no jobs in your field, like me right now,  ya gotta hit the streets. And hit the streets I did..well I hit up a few bookshops..not a street. When walking in I was hoping they would secretly love me at first glance and want to hire me. The hiring didn't happen...but you never know people could have secretly fallen for me.

.the details.

dress:  Asos :: cardigan: Target

shoes & purse: Urban Outfitters

scarf: TJ Max :: ring: The Afternoon

.To Do in Melbourne: Part 1.

Melbourne, oh Melbourne, how I love thee!! This was the city Dave and I started our tour de Aussie. We only were able to spend four days in Melbourne and it definitely was NOT enough! While we were in Melbourne we longed to be able to stay more days, but our schedule and reservations made it not possible.  

If you ever find ourself in this amazing city, here are few things you should add to your agenda:

1. Queen Victoria's Market.  

This is the largest open air market in the Southern Hemisphere with 17 acres of stalls! You can find items ranging from fresh food to souvenirs to basically anything you could ever need.  This is also a great place to people watch with over 200,000 people passing through weekly. 

134 years young!

BONUS: It's on the FREE tourist shuttle route

2. Shrine of Remembrance

This is Victoria's memorial to the men and women who have served Australia in armed conflicts and peacekeeping operations throughout the nation's history. This is a wonderful, beautiful, and moving memorial. Dave and I spent a few hours walking around the memorial, taking in the views of the city, and watching the laying of the wreath. This is also a stop on the FREE tourist shuttle!

Unknown Tomb

view from the top

2p.m. laying of the wreath at the Unknown Tomb

3. Royal Botanic Gardens

The gardens are right across from the Shrine of Remembrance, making it a next great stop. The Royal Botanic Gardens are one of the best in Australia and in the world, I would have to agree. With the beautiful gardens and wide array of pants both native and non native you could spend hours wandering in the gardens. I suggest packing a light lunch, find shade under the perfect tree, and join the other picnickers. It's also a great place to read a book and people watch!!

View of entrance to Royal Botanic Gardens from Shrine of Remembrance

4. Run the Tan

What is the Tan? The Tan is a running track, 3.8km, that runs parallel to the Botanic Gardens. It got it's name due to the surface color of the stone it is made of. The track is famous amongst joggers, runners, and walkers alike. The quickest lap around the Tan is 10 min. and 8 seconds by AFL player Craig Mottram, during this lap he gave his team members a 2 min. head start and still beat them all!!

Dave running The Tan!

5. Queen Victoria Park

After the Royal Botanic Garden and running a little on The Tan, walk on over to Queen Victoria Park. This is another beautiful park filled with flowers, fountains, and a lovely statue of Queen Victoria. You can take a quick walk through, read a book, or find a bench to do a little people watching. 

What We Wore: Target Edition

Dave and I were running errands the other day and figured why not take some outfit pictures. We actually had a really fun time taking pictures with people looking at us like we are weird! It's nothing new for us, we get those looks ALLLL the time!!

Also, did you know that Target was founded in Minnesota? Yep, it's one of the MANY companies started in this wonderful state.  Ask all my previous students and they can now list at least 3 MN companies!

(Sorry my face is blurry, but you get the whole effect in this one)

I love all the wonderful bright colors of nail polish!

I don't really paint my nails, but I may now do it ALL the time.

What a stud, huh?

What we Wore:

.sho.

shirt: Avella :: pants: Merona

cardigan: Mossimo :: shoes: Xhiliration

scarf: Charlotte Russe 

.dave.

shirt: Merona :: pants: Merona

Jacket: Old Navy :: shoes: Target

The funny thing is when at Target, 

our outfits were mostly Target branded!!!

.diy shoes.

Happy Thursday!!!

Can you believe it's almost Friday? Seriously, where did this week go? Who knows, maybe it went to Kansas or to Orlando. If I was this week, I would go to Orlando to visit all those fun amusement parks I've heard so much about.

Enough about that. On to the real reason you are probably reading this post (maybe it's because I am funny..no?). Last week Dave and I went to Goodwill to make a donation and then do a little shopping. We found a chair and a pair shoes. It seemed like Kaylah also found the same pair of shoes in a Goodwill near her. She came up with this great DIY, that I knew I had to test it out.

These are the shoes I purchased:

Regular cute gray shoes!

AND these are the shoes I now own:

Cute shoes with a touch of pizazz! 

I can't wait to wear these, especially this summer!

 I think that they can add a little touch of sparkle to any dress or outfit!