A No(Tory)ous Friday Afternoon in Sydney and a Cosy Evening at Mecca Maxima Melbourne.

Hello everyone!

Tonight I'm blogging live from Melbourne.  To be more precise, from the desk to the left of this photo using that very macbook.

Sydney Shop Girl - blogger in residence at The Stamford Plaza Melbourne on Little Collins St.

Thank you to reader Kate for her advice regarding the weather here in Melbourne.  Kate, I shall be asking Faux Fucshsia to sail her ark down from Brisbane (hopefully with key pieces of her fabulous wardrobe hung two by two inside).  

The weather was pretty bleak in Sydney before I left too.  I tried my best to channel vibrance with green based breakfast items but to no avail.  It was grey skies and spitting rain all day.

Someone dressed Queen Victoria up for Christmas but I don't think it made her feel any better about being out in the weather today.

I think this is a sign that I need to start Christmas shopping now.  Possibly at the QVB.

Unfortunately I didn't bring wellington boots with me to Melbourne, Kate.  I wore these.

Tori Spelling has beat me to the corrupted spelling (that sounds wrong but it's true) of 'So No-Tori-ous', 'sTori Telling' and 'Unchartered Terri-Tori' (the forthcoming novel).  But she hasn't got dibs on 'The Traffic to Kingsford Smith Airport is No(Tory)ously Bad on Friday Afternoons and Clenching Your Feet in the Taxi Doesn't Make It Go Any Faster'.

That's right.  Those Tory Burch black patent ballerinas I casually mentioned in an unrelated paragraph of a blog post the other day.  Have yours arrived yet, Kate B?  It was the funniest chain of events this afternoon.  I was repacking (putting in and then removing the same items over and over) when the doorbell rang.  It was a parcel from ShopBop.  I tried them on.  They fit.  My taxi arrived for the airport.  I left my sensible boots on the shoe rack and walked out the door in my new flats.  Tory Burch was meant to be in Melbourne this weekend.

There was the usual chaos at the airport.  Flights were delayed, people going to Melbourne had to go through a special check in area to speed things up.  Those assembled at gate 4 were all in remarkably good form all things considered.  We made polite conversation and someone in a suit helpfully told me that the dollar still hasn't gone 1:1 with the AUD.  What's taking it so long?  It's not waiting for an afternoon chairman's flight with QANTAS from Sydney to Melbourne as well, is it?

Readers outside of Melbourne may not have heard about Mecca Maxima.  It's the cashed up arty love child of Mecca Cosmetica and Kit.  It stocks the best selling brands from each chain as well as some unique fragrances and YSL cosmetics and brands like Clinique and  Clarins.  For those interested in the sampler pack promotion, please scroll down a bit as I have photos of what it contained.

The store is located on the ground floor of Melbourne Central.  Not too far from my hotel.  With the little blue iPhone dot as my compass, it was a pleasant walk after my flight.  

There are these very cute shopping baskets.  'Busy Browsing' is self explanatory whilst the reverse side indicates that a staff member's help is needed.  Genius.

A girl can never have too many of those MD Formulation Alpha Beta facial wipes.

A testament to the weather in Melbourne.

Elsewhere in Melbourne Central, it was typically Melbourne.

Little laneways with fairy lights, even inside a shopping centre complex.

Funky street art and wittily named stores.

The cold, wet and windy weather had me in search of comfort food for dinner.  Old Town Cafe on Swanston Street fit the bill.

It's not so lonely dining alone when you've got facebook on your iPhone to get preoccupied with as you sip soothing hot lemon and honey tea.  In decades past, I would have had to bring a paper or a novel with me.

A very nourishing beef brisket noodle soup with some wontons.  It was all practically inhaled.

I walked back to my hotel warm and content.  The streets were alive with friendly groups from all walks of life out for an evening and being respectful of the enjoyment of others in the process.

I've had a lovely soak in a bath full of Lush's Blue Skies and Fluffy White Clouds whilst catching up on the latest in celebrity land with my eclectic iTunes playlists blaring through my macbook.  This entry is already too long so I will spare you the details.  Except to say that excellent handbags and heels were worn.  Even in times of intense personal anguish and gross breaches of trust.

A dinner of noodle soup can only be completed with some kind of dessert from an Asian grocer.  Tonight it was lychee jelly.  I couldn't decide between the lychee or the mango pudding....

Before I go to bed, the Mecca Maxima photos.

Bags are more on the Pucci side than the navy of  Mecca Cosmetica or the brown paper bags of kit.

Oops.  Not entirely Mecca Maxima.  The Tory ballerinas.  Pretty comfy for a first wear.  

The promotional sampler was a tube of Perricone MD Cold Plasma and some nude skincare samples.

I was given some Clarins beauty flash with my purchase.  Can't remember what it's meant to do except that it was a cult product in the 90s.

The nude samples - mask, cleansing oil and others.

This is actually a very compact eyelash curler from the store's big accessories range.  It cost $6.30.  It's a weird photo but the clamping action comes from an unfolded hinge on the curler.  There is room for a spare curler pad on the bottom of the curler.

Good night.  I'm meant to be figuring out the tram to take to get up St Kilda Rd tomorrow.  Oh, and to find breakfast beforehand.  I'm going to hit Brunettis, I think.