Wordsmith Lane

Wordsmith Weekly: Style, smarts & savoir-faire mash-ups

It’s a tiring Wednesday for this wordsmith today, and even though I am at work and I should be focusing on the job, I can barely keep my eyes open after a particularly hectic weekend featuring a friend’s wedding on Friday night (Muslims tend to marry on Friday, which has a special religious significance for them); an old-friend catch-up on Saturday morning and a huck’s night on Saturday night (that’s a hen’s and buck’s mash-up for those who are yet to encounter the term); and a Baptism & particularly frenzied work function on Sunday. Monday was your typical bla-bla day, but I took yesterday off to treat my poor back and get my wedding hair trialled (read: disaster), and then after a meeting with the person supplying dessert for my wedding events (stay tuned for a bride to be blog on the fantastic options available, all made out of gelato), I figured I could relax. But alas, it was not meant to be, and here I am whining about my exhaustion yet again.

But the wordsmith show must go on, and despite the fact that I have been noticably absent from my online adventures (my blog, other blogs twitter, facebook) of late, I am still thinking about the blog and coming up with things I have to post about every single day. Unfortunately, things are starting to get particularly hectic on the wedding front, on account of the fact that there are ten weeks to go till the Big Day, and still a lot of hurdles to overcome in order to make it all happen swiftly and with little to no glitches (like a groom with no suit…or wedding ring, and hair that does not look like a bird’s nest or fall apart after an hour).

Still, I’ll take a little break from all my wedding planning commitments (or dump them in the lap of good friend & wedding planner Danielle) to try and bring you a few posts over the next week, which I have been holding on to for some time, including a couple of writer interviews and a wrap-up of some new books hitting my wordsmith shelves. And what better way than starting off with my wrap-up of my quest for style, smarts and savoir-faire over the past week:

• Who knows better style, smarts & savoir-faire than Mademoiselle herself, the late Coco Chanel? Delighted to add my first Chanel bio to my bookshelf this week. Coco Chanel:The Legend and the Life courtesy of author Justine Picardie & Harper Collins ($32.99) is out soon and I feel it’s going to be a must-read for fans of the lavish, lux and lady-like life. The Sunday Telegraph-inserted Sunday Magazine actually had a spread on Coco and her secret life, written by Picardie herself. It had to do for the time being, but I can’t wait till things slow down a little so I can devour the book whole heartedly.
• For all this talk of life slowing down, I wonder about my keen attitude to motherhood despite my humble 24 years. How will I ever cope if I can’t cope now? Lots to learn from those around me, and it seems like Satchel girl Erica Bartle understands, if this lovely post on her fantastic blog is anything to go by.
• Despite all its successes, I’ve never actually seen a Masterchef episode, but even I couldn’t resist heading down to Adriano Zumbo’s Pattisserie in Sydney’s Balmain over the weekend (enroute to Kazbah’s of course) to sample a few of the delicacies that have Sydney-siders lining up at the door from 8:30am. Got myself a bag of macarons and a Houdini, which is a green macaron filled with some sort of cream (forgot the flavour) as well as raspberry and strawberry. DELISH!
• Speaking of all things Chanel, a few weeks ago I was delighted to receive an email from author Harold Carlton, after reviewing his book Heaven, Hell & Mademoiselle. Carlton and I chatted about all things French, Fashion & Coco, and I was delighted to hear that he liked my post on his book, but that he is also polishing off another novel set in the world of fashion. I was particularly chuffed at the compliment considering Carlton had met and worked with Coco herself, so the lesson for you wordsmiths is to keep blogging about what you love because you NEVER know who is reading your work.
• September is practically over, and I am openly and willingly admitting that I failed miserably at my September pitching challenge. For all the ideas that I came up with, I only pitched two or three, two of which were not picked up and the third I stopped having hope in, considering I am yet to receive a reply for it. As for the uni books I was supposed to be reading? Did not happen. Epic fail on my front, but that is just the reality of the game! Thanks for all your kind messages regarding the post about my ideas being shite (in a manner of speaking). Post was not intended to be a whinge or nag or fish for comliments, it was just a random thought that I posted about. If I was not fairly confident, I wouldn’t bother pitching. But your sentiments were nice of course, and very much appreciated.
• Hands up who hearts Kit Cosmetics? Me too!! And I am stoked to check out the latest brand they’ll be stocking as of October 11th, called Soap & Glory. Seeing as I am on the biggest budget imaginable (mortgage, humble-by-Lebanese-standards-wedding -that-is-still-costing-me-$50k, an old car which needs replacing, furniture that needs to be purchased for new home), I can’t be my usual buy-beauty-now-sample-range-later self. But I will be forking out some pennies for the Sexy Mother Pucker Extreme Plump lip gloss to give my fairly thin lips a bit of fattening up.
• And on another beauty note, I am superbly excited by the warming weather, and spent Friday night making sure my tootsies were ready to be bared. the polish to the rescue? OPI’s Charged Up Cherry ($19.95). Love the name, which evokes a feeling of energy and a can-do attitude on my otherwise lazy behalf. And love the colour of course, which conjures up the very mistaken feeling that summer never left me to begin with.
• And before I forget, a big shout out to Sassi Sam. Even though I should be eating well to look impossibly fresh and pretty on my big day, I entered a Cadbury choc comp on her blog a few weeks ago (I wrote a silly little poem about how much I love cadbury, and I do, especially the Rocky Road) and I won. So I will be enjoying some free chocolate soon!
• What’s on everyone’s agenda this week? Mine is continuing to hand out the wedding invitations that are plaguing my life (I bet I know how my sister who made them feels); finding a hairdresser who can come to my house on the day at 6am (eek!) and stop spending money. Somewhere in the middle, I might work on the novel that I have not touched since March. Novel Writing Month anyone?
• Wordsmith love to you all, thanks for supporting my blog in all my hectic dramas and crazy-lady pursuits xx