Wordsmith Lane

Wordsmith Weekly: This week’s style, smarts & savoir-faire hit-list

Happy shorter week Wordsmith Laners! I hope you had a very happy Easter, and are ready and willing to face another Wordsmith week. If not, make sure you stake out a respectful hitlist of style, smarts and savoir-faire to make it all a little more pleasant, because it usually works a treat for me and dare I say it, makes my working week a little more worthwhile.

Especially because, as you can so surely see, I have nabbed myself a pair of sparkly, ruby-slipper-esque pair of Dorothy shoes (that indeed is their style name) from my local Payless Shoes (@$59.99, FYI). I have no idea where I will wear them, let alone a clue as to whether or not they will last, but fiance could simply not ignore my squeels of delight and excitement as I saw them in all their Wizard of Oz-inspired glory.

On to more style news, I am immensely thankful to Australis for their new brush-on make up range. As you might all know, I loathe clutter in a manner so extreme, and anything that aids in my desire to own less (because, as we all know, less is more) will always earn my tick of approval. The range makes male-up application a breeze because you needn’t fiddle with tools (that are messy and worse, breeding grounds for bacteria) — simply apply using the brush imbedded in the stick/tube. Pictured here are  the foundation; the bronzer (a must for my pale skin) and illuminator (because late nights in front of a computer will dull it to the max); and my favourite products of all — the two-in-one lip and cheek tints (again, less products is less mess in my already cluttered life). I love the colours in the tints too – perfect for my vintage rose kinda look. Check them out at your nearest priceline store.

On the smarts front, I will be catching up to all things wordsmith-inspired today with my monthly newsletter courtesy of the NSW Writer’s Centre. Of course, I’m more than insistent on sharing the wordsmith wealth, and as such, I will try to ensure the timely posting of any relevant wordsmith information (competitions, courses, general tidbits) in the Writer’s Spotlight section for your perusal.

And, because I believe that smarts also extends to awareness and knowledge of our surroundings (not just matters that would label us intelligent or book smart etc), I will be thoroughly perusing my Lonely Planet guide to the Big Apple, New York City. Regular followers of this blog would be pleased to note that I have booked and paid a deposit on my Las Vegas/NYC honeymoon for December 2010 (God Willing).

Although I must say that I will always be keeping myself a little booksmart on matters of Tudor history, so unsurprisingly I am simply ecstatic at the prospect of reading a new release book that digs a little more into the mystery surrounding the death of Amy Robsart, the wife of Robert Dudley – who happened to be best friends (and supposedly lovers) with Elizabeth I. I have never bought into the innocence and hype of the supposed virgin queen, and I think it’s because I have read widely into her supposed affairs with otherwise engaged men (apparently she had a dalliance with her step-mother Katharine Parr’s husband Thomas Seymour at the ripe young age of twelve, but vehemntly denied it when questioned under oath – meaning that Seymou, who was also uncle to her half-brother Edward VI went to his death). Maybe it’s tall poppy syndrome, maybe it’s because her rages and jealousy at anyone who captured the limelight more than she did is behaviour quite childish in my eyes. But again, considering this happened over 500 years ago, we can never be certain. I am nevertheless excited at reading the research and arguments made by historian Chris Skidmore in his book Death and the Virgin ($59.99, Weidenfeld &Nicolson) and familiarising myself even more on a topic I find scandalous, insightful and satisfying. The Tudors were indeed the Forsters of their generation.

And because a girl can never exist on style and smarts alone, my measley dose of savoir-faire this week comes in the form of my newly acquired tea towels, courtesy of the Best & Less $1.99 front-of-store rack. I found them to be cute and the absolute must for my kitschy, 50′s housewife fantasies (much as I love my career and the feminist cause, I love to indulge in a little domesticity and find it quite cathartic in my busy, modern-woman existence). Not sure if the picture is clear enough, but one of them is of three little piggies, one is of lollies/cakes/ice-creams and the last is of kitchen bits (jars labelled tea, coffee etc). Super-cute and super-cheap. Definitely a stash for my growing glory box.

I can’t promise to be as productive as last week on Wordsmith Lane, but I will surely do my best. I do have some semi-exciting news up my sleeve which I shall turn into a post later this month, because it is a wordsmith lesson you are all bound to learn from. Apart from that I shall take it slowly. But as always, thanks for your words and emails of encouragement, they always make my day and ensure the tough times are never too lingering. Especially when the sunny Sydney weather gets a little too dreary (though I know you’re smiling at the prospect of winter Ms Sarah-Hannah Fisher) and I want nothing more than to bury myself in junk food, tracksuits and TV. However, I am hoping that my new summer-scented tube of Planet Earth Coconut & Lime bodywash (because you all know I love the Target-sold brand so much it made it into the ’I Love’ sidebar of this blog) and my lovely hot pink shade of ‘strike a posie’ Sportsgirl nailpolish – complete with new-look bottle [see main image] will scare the lazy, winter demons away until I am ready and willing to deal with them.

Until then, we are all in this together. Have a happy week, and stay tuned for all things style, smarts and savoir-faire; all things newsy in the life of yours truly; and as always, all things wordsmith. All my love xx

PS – Is the font on this blog theme too small for you guys to read my random rantings? I fear the sidebar doesn’t convey my all-round amazingness as well as it should ;p