REVIEW: CAN I BORROW THAT?

With my writing I am covering different events every week and I love it! The only remotely stressful thing about my job is what on earth to wear to all these different events! Being a fashion blogger I need to keep up with fashion and make sure I appear fresh and up to date.  As much as I would love to buy a new dress every single week, I can’t. So it becomes this huge juggling act of what dress to wear where, what people will be there and have they seen me in this dress or what dress was I in when I was snapped and put in this newspaper or that magazine or someone else’s blog! So far so good! But when it came to New Years Eve I wanted something special. I go out to beautiful events so often and put so much effort into what I am wearing that I really wanted to amp it up. I spent $400 on my NYE ticket to Versace and I wanted to look nothing short of fabulous! So I started browsing Net-A-Porter and instead of looking in my price range of a few hundred dollars I found myself clicking onto the dresses worth a few thousand! Dolce & Gabbana, Roberto Cavalli, Versace, Valentino, Oscar De La Renta and well… you get the point! Ahhh dream dresses! Then it occurred to me….! I cant afford the few thousand to buy them but I most likely could afford the few hundred to borrow them, if that was possible! So I Googled ‘rent a dress’ and Can I Borrow That? came straight up! It is a gorgeous easy to use site.  I had so much fun browsing through the dresses and actually spent longer than I care to divulge on this addictive site! Now you know that you can actually afford to wear that Dolce and Gabbana it turns into a frenzy of ‘Wow I would look good in Roberto Cavalli!’ ‘oh but I could get this Halston Heritage dress and be just like Carrie off Sex and the City!’ or ‘OoooOoo but I love that Brian Lichtenberg dress and it looked great on Kim Kardashian so maybe it would suit me too?’. So yes I did spend a long time oooing and ahhhing at the dresses and trying to remember what celebrity I saw in which dress and trying to figure out which ones would suit me and which clothing label is more to my taste. So after, ahem, hours of browsing the dresses I found a leopard print Just Cavalli dress (RRP $999) and a Roberto Cavalli clutch (RRP $1599) that I thought would be perfect for my ‘Pop’ themed NYE Party at Versace! 

So I selected my size and I also selected the “Try Me” option which is brilliant as it lets you try the dress before committing to hire it. They merely send the dress out to you, you try it on, call immediately to let them know if it fits and suits and then you send it back and they will resend it for the date you requested! I put in my credit card details and waited to hear from them. It took a couple of days before I heard from Michelle (who is the owner of CIBT) which is understandable with Christmas and New Years Eve looming only a couple of weeks away I can imagine how busy they would have been. I did this all as if I was a ‘normal customer’ (I did not inform them that I was a fashion blogger or I was going to write a review), I had put in that I wanted a size 12 and Michelle asked me if I was more of a 12-14 or a 10-12 because the Just Cavalli sizes are a little smaller than regular Australian sizing. I said that I was more of a 12-14 and she informed me it was probably safest for her to send out the 12 and the 14 and see which one is the perfect fit. I got home late on Christmas Eve to the package. Wow was I excited! I opened it with all the excitement of a child on Christmas day would open their biggest present! The box was huge and had beautiful purple ribbon around it! 

There was the gorgeous clutch and dress, but just one dress, a size 12. I raced to my bathroom and tried it on and FAIL. I couldn’t get it done up. I thought maybe it was just me and I needed help. So I hung the dress in my cupboard and continued getting everything ready for Christmas. 

Boxing day my mother came over and as soon as she walked through the door I said I need help getting into a dress! So I raced once again to the bathroom and put it on, raced back out and asked her to do the zip up… but no. Damn! Damn! Double damn! It was just too small. I spoke to Michelle and she said she could send me out the 14 but with all the public holidays and the Christmas mail jam I didn’t want to risk not getting it in time so I declined. I popped the clutch and the bag back into the self-addressed prepaid mail bag that you get in the package, which makes the whole process even easier, and reluctantly sent my first taste of Cavalli home.

My verdict

Would I do it again? Absolutely. My birthday is coming up and I will definitely consider hiring a dress for that. I think it is a brilliant idea. You get the dress for a whole week so if you have two unrelated events in one week you can wear it twice! 

You don’t have to get it dry cleaned, you merely send it back as is and they take care of it. It is such a piece of cake to do and you can look and feel amazing for a fraction of the price. 

The communication could have been a bit better but I am understanding due to it being the crazy season. Michelle is also lovely, easy to deal with on the phone and I love the hand written note from her in the package, it makes it that much more special! 

The site is so incredibly easy to use and clear. It is a real pleasure to browse (unlike some of the other competing sites). There are also packages put together so you can hire the whole look for a reduced price. There are dresses for all different occasions so if you even need to make a super impressive statement at a job interview there is a “Corporate Girl” package with the most gorgeous structured D&G dress. Your future employer possibly wont know its D&G but it will give you that extra boost of confidence you get when you look great!

Advice

• Book well in advance, at least a month. It takes the stress out of the whole process and you can try it on and send it back well in advance so if it doesn't fit or you don’t like it you can ask to try on another size or a different dress all together.
• I personally would only hire a dress if I am going out to a nice venue. You always run the risk of getting a drink spilled on you just like you run the risk of getting hit by a car if you walk outside. I would hire the dress for NYE Versace but not for NYE at a less than reputable night club... if you get my drift. If the dress is damaged the cleaning bill is on you and if it is irreversible damage you will be charged accordingly. I don’t mean to scare you as I have never ever ruined a dress whilst out, only shoes!
• I also suggest that you sign up to their newsletter. It lets you know when there are discounted rates (lately there has been 25% off which is great) and also when new dresses come in! So go ahead… try it out!

http://www.caniborrowthat.com.au/

Stay fabulous!

CLE

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Book Review- The Voice of Knowledge by Don Miguel Ruiz

Those of you close to me know how much I love Don’s books and how much I harp on about them. Don is definitely one of my favourite authors. I knew when I downloaded this book that I would enjoy it! Here is the ‘back of the book’:

Ruiz refers to the forbidden tree of knowledge, likening the abandonment of the true self to the fall from heaven. This fall, he says, occurred because of the loss of "the impeccability of the word," that simple yet potent prescription for countering the judgmental inner "Voice of Knowledge." Adhering to "the word" - saying only what one means, refusing to speak against one's self - allows anyone to quiet those inner tyrannical thoughts so that we can become aware of our Voice of Integrity. Knowledge then becomes an ally, and life becomes an expression of the authentic self.

The forbidden tree of knowledge and the fall from heaven is referring to the legend of The Garden of Eden. It is a great story full of symbolism and it is very interesting to read Don’s interpretation of it. He talks about the two trees in the garden, the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. The apples from the Tree of Life are full of love, truth and emotion. The apples on the Tree of Knowledge were full of words and knowledge tainted with lies.  The snake in the tree of knowledge (who is the fallen angel) seduced us with his stories contaminated with lies, to eat from his tree.

“When someone tells us a lie and we believe it, that lie takes root in our mind. There it can grow big and strong just like a tree.”

The problem with eating from this tree is that we're told what is good and what is bad, what is right and what is wrong, what is beautiful and what is ugly and then there is us in the middle trying to judge what is what. Now each of us has our own personal tree of knowledge in our head from what we have been taught as we have grown up. We all grow up with different meanings of what is right and what is wrong. You may have grown up with a family who steals and uses force to get what they want. To you that is right because that is all you know. You may have grown up in a family that keeps emotions bottled up and to express emotions is a weakness. To you that would be right because that is all you know. So what is right to one person may not be right to another. 

“Knowledge goes into our mind and reproduces a structure inside our head, which is everything that we know. With all that knowledge in our head, we only perceive what we believe; we only perceive our own knowledge. And what is it that we know? Mostly lies.”

Don says that we are born perfect. Instead of words we think with our emotions (the purest way to think, emotions don’t lie) because we do not know words or have a concept of language we use emotions as our guide. But then we learn to talk and words tend to take precedence over our emotions which should not happen.  Words are limited and can never explain the full extent of how we feel and are always left open to misinterpretation. We should use words to help us communicate to one another but not to replace emotions. Instead of a constant stream of words filling our head we should be examining our emotions because the words about next weeks episode of GLEE might be bouncing around in our head but it is not more important than right here right now. Our emotions tell us how we feel in the now.

To be honest the beginning of the book sat a little uncomfortably with me at first because he uses words that we usually liken to a positive, in a negative way. If you talk to me and ask me what my favourite things are I always say one of them is the quest for knowledge. I just love knowledge and learning. But in the book the word knowledge is cast in a negative light. He also uses the word ‘lies’ a fair amount in the beginning and that word just makes me feel uncomfortable full stop. But it really is a means to and end and I can think of no other way of telling the story. He is honest and to the point and the words he uses evoke an emotional response (they did in me anyway) which also helped me understand the point. He also talks about the ‘voice of knowledge’ which also sat a little weirdly with me. He says when we learn to talk we learn that it is not necessarily ok to be ourselves. We cannot say this or do that. We have all these rules and regulations in regards to behaviour that we must to adhere to. We see our parents act in certain ways that we copy. When our parents put themselves down or lie or bitch about another person we learn to do the same. Children do as their parents do not as they say (so so so so true!). It is all well and good to tell a child not to lie but when there is a knock at the door and you tell them to say that you’re not there, that is a lie. It might be a white lie but it’s still a lie. Children are always listening and watching and they are little sponges that absorb everything.  Hence Don informs you in the book that you gain all this knowledge through observing the behaviour of those around you and then the ‘voice of knowledge’ starts in your head. This voice is constantly judging and self-deprecating. Im not sure if I am overly sensitive to the statement ‘voices in your head’ but naturally, on closer examination, there is no other way to put it and all the while you are reading you really do find yourself agreeing and inserting your own experiences into his stories.

So after all of my complaining about the beginning and how the certain wording of stories didn’t sit too well with me at the start but were actually a means to an end, the rest of the book was a lot more to my taste. It was back to being positive and upbeat. It talks about love and the wonder of it and you should not just think that a love for a single person is the strongest form of love. Your love for life should be just as important! Come from a place of love always and you will find yourself so much more at ease, I love that. Here are some of my absolute favourite quotes from the book.

“When you have the courage to open your heart completely to love, a miracle happens. You start perceiving the reflection of your love in everything. Then eating, walking, talking, singing, dancing, showering, working, playing- everything you do becomes a ritual of love. When everything becomes a ritual of love you are no longer thinking; you are feeling and enjoying life. “

“Love and respect are what we should also teach our children, but the only way to teach them love and respect is to love and respect ourselves. There is no other way. Again, we can only give what we have, not what we don’t have.”

"Just to breathe is enough to always be happy, to always be in love."

I know I have said so much about this book that you might think you don’t need to read it, but trust me, I haven’t even scraped the surface. It is an amazing book and a must read for anyone on a path to a better life! I give this book 5 stars because the information is invaluable and I will definitely read it again! I hope you enjoyed my review!

 Stay fabulous!

X

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Queensland Floods

I rarely find myself being dramatically affected by natural disasters. After September 11 and how deeply affected I was by that I made a resolution to not let myself get so emotionally involved with anything like that again. It hurt me and haunted me for weeks. I felt like I was walking around with a cloud over my head and wondered why we would bother living in this world at all if such things could and do happen. The images on the TV screen of people jumping from the burning buildings still haunt me. So after that if there is any kind of huge disaster I never read more than one article about it. I won’t watch it on TV and I won’t go to the galleries of pictures to upset myself over the loss of human and animal life. But I do usually donate to certain charities that support the people who have been affected so I can 'lend a hand' without getting too involved. But this time was different. 

I didn't know anyone that was directly affected by the flooding. My friends live in high rise buildings or are in areas that were unaffected even though that may have only been by a metre. I couldn't tare myself away from the TV or the Brisbane Times website or the on flow of information and pictures people were putting up on Facebook and twitter. Watching the death toll slowly rise and the number of people unaccounted for rise even faster. Reading the terrifying stories in the paper and seeing peoples tear stained and exhausted faces on television. I sat for probably two hours watching Sky News and even though it was basically the same information over and over and over again for two hours I couldn't get away. By the night time I felt so.... depressed. People were so scared and confused and it wasn't just the people being affected by the floods... I think the whole of Australia actually felt that way. This kind of thing doesn't happen in a major city in Australia let alone places that have been on water restrictions in recent years. 

I promised blogs and posts at the beginning of the week but couldn’t write and then if I found something worth posting I couldn't as I found that it might be insensitive. People are losing their homes and loved ones and I would be posting pictures of Jimmy Choos... hmmm doesn't fit. But as they say every cloud has a silver lining. The light behind the gigantic clouds that dumped more water on us than needed was people’s morale. The respect I have for the people who were standing waist deep in water in their living rooms and telling a reporter ‘we are just doing what we can to keep our spirits high and even though its not a nice thing that’s happened it has happened and we just have to get on with it’. What a brilliant attitude. It’s your attitude that can make or break you, not your circumstances. You can choose to let your circumstance’s overwhelm you and feel hopeless about the situation or you can take the attitude that things will get better, because they always do, and get on with the task at hand. The attitude of the people who have been affected by the floods has sparked something within us all and caused a ripple effect. The amount of people who have put up their hand to offer assistance is phenomenal. 

Australian’s are donating money left right and center, places designated to take food and supplies have started turning people away as there has been so much donated in such a short amount of time. Volunteers are pouring into Brisbane to help with the big clean up and there are so many people who have put their names down to foster animals until they can be returned home that I haven’t even been considered for the job yet! There are always the amazing animal advocates to help us remember that it’s not only people that were affected but animals were too so there is a large amount of people donating their money to the RSPCA to help them pay for the mounting vet bills that animals incurred because of the floods. 

Anna Bligh’s popularity is through the roof due to her reassuring words and fast acting tactics. Even the seemingly forgotten Kevin Rudd was out there helping to search for the missing. It is quite appropriate that Australia Day is drawing near as in this terrible time people are banding together to help in any way they can and ‘lending a hand’ which in turn has made people extremely proud to be an Australian. The Gold Coast had a ‘Mates in Need’ street party at Tedder Avenue in Main Beach to help raise some money. I drove to Tedder Avenue on Friday night hoping that there would be at least a few people there so I could talk to them about the floods and maybe take some happy snaps of fashionistas. I didn’t think that there would be many people there at all as I didn't remember it was actually a Friday night because the week felt like it all melded into one big day of not so great news and of course the impending chance of rain. How wrong I was! 

The street was blocked off to cars and full of people, food and entertainment! This brilliant night raised almost $1 million dollars! Gold Coasters had turned out in force to donate money to a wonderful cause that was close to our hearts. Magic Millions was also this week hence there was a few Australian Celebrities who came to lend a hand to help people empty their pockets into tins!

     Australian Miss Universe 2008 Laura Dundovic and Kerley from Channel V        

V8 Car Driver James Courtney

Face of Magic Millions Jess Hart and me!

The Queensland Premiers Disaster Relief Fund is climbing steadily and is at $64,329,927. Stars from all of the world are giving the Fund a shout out, from Tim Cahill to Nicole Richie to YouTube star Philip DeFranco encouraging people to donate money. 

The clean up is well underway and people are encouraged to donate cleaning supplies and money to help get our Queensland back to working order as soon as possible so people can return to their homes and their jobs. 

If you would like to donate some money go to 

http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html

If you would like to donate your time or cleaning products go to

http://qldfloods.org/

The amazing photography is by local Brisbane Photographer Craig Scarr

http://craigscarr.com/

To see more of Craig's flood pictures go to 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Craig-Scarr-Photographer/123136487739174

Stay fabulous, stay optimistic and stay safe!

X

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Ladies Charity Brunch 4 A.S.D Kids

Being a mother is the most rewarding role in the world. The love you experience from your little bundle of joy makes non-believers believe, the loveless- love, the lost- found and the hardest eyes soften. Children have a magic about them that surpasses any fairy tale ever. Being a mother can be trying but the love you experience is worth it a thousand times over. With this great love comes great responsibility. You can say it is a mothers worst nightmare if something is to ever go 'wrong' with your child and from the tears in Chloe Maxwell’s eyes this one morning in Sanctuary Cove as she reminisced about the time she thought she had entered into a nightmare, it unfortunately showed that this fear can sometimes be all too real. The initial fear of the unknown for her beloved son Max as she and her family started noticing a change which at the time did not seem for the better. The initial denial and defensive stance she took all while never wanting to contemplate that there was ever something that she did not understand going on with her first born. Gentle persuasion and patience from Mat and family got Chloe to the point where a visit to a paediatrician was undertaken and Max was diagnosed with Autism. 

4 ASD Kids - Rogers Family (9 News) from 4 ASD Kids on Vimeo.

Different people deal with such news in different ways. An autism advocacy organization reports that the divorce rate within the autism community is staggering. According to its research, 80% of all marriages end. Lucky for Mat and Chloe this was not the case. They banded together and rather than continuing to fear the unknown they took the proactive stance and educated themselves. Chloe buried herself in books. She wanted to know everything she possibly could so she could do whatever it took to help her Max. For those of you who don’t know much about Autism here is a snippet from Wikipedia:

“Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behaviour. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood. It is one of three recognized disorders in the autism spectrum (ASDs), the other two being Asperger syndrome, which lacks delays in cognitive development and language, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (commonly abbreviated as PDD-NOS), which is diagnosed when the full set of criteria for autism or Asperger syndrome are not met.

Autism has a strong genetic basis, although the genetics of autism are complex and it is unclear whether ASD is explained more by rare mutations, or by rare combinations of common genetic variants. The prevalence of autism is about 1–2 per 1,000 people worldwide; however, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports an approximate of 9 per 1,000 children in the United States are diagnosed with ASD. 

Parents usually notice signs in the first two years of their child's life. The signs usually develop gradually, but some autistic children first develop more normally and then regress. Although there is no known cure, early behavioural or cognitive intervention can help autistic children gain self-care, social, and communication skills.”

After a lot of expensive therapies ranging from speech to physio Max is improving in leaps and bounds. Seeing the results Max has got from the intensive therapies Chloe and Mat decided to go public with Max’s Autism and start a charity to help families pay for the expensive yet effective therapies. 4 A.S.D Kids now raises money and awareness for the Autism community in Australia. The most recent of their fundraising efforts was a charity weekend in Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast. The first event, starting on the Friday, was Mat’s golf day then a beach party by the lagoon pool at the Hyatt Regency Sanctuary Cove that night. On Saturday there was the Chloe and friends Ladies Brunch, a Gala Ball that evening and finally finishing with Carols by candle light on the Sunday afternoon with Guy Sebastian. I was fortunate enough to be asked to come along by a talented friend from the brilliant events management company Limetree events and cover the Ladies Brunch. 

The brunch was held at the renowned Hyatt Regency and was hosted by the very quick witted Sandra Sully! Sandra was the funniest and most well-spoken host I had seen in while. When we arrived we were given Champagne (it’s not a brunch without Champagne!) and we sat at our tables laden with pastries, cakes, scones and sandwiches. Everyone looked amazing in their summer brunch dresses! The special guests were Charlotte Dawson, Corrine Grant and of course Chloe Maxwell. 

Corinne (who looked amazing!) spoke about her new book ‘Lessons In Letting Go; Confessions of a Hoarder’ and her possible T.V reality show she shot a pilot for in the USA to help people let go and stop hoarding of course all the while making us laugh! Charlotte spoke about being comfortable in your own skin and empowering young women to love themselves, have a healthy respect for their body, understand exercise is a part of life and starving yourself is not the way to go. She said nutrition and exercise should all be a part of the school curriculum. Naturally Australia's next top model was brought up and Charlotte explained how it was a terrible mistake and they had no idea until the next morning about the media circus that ensued. 

Chloe told her story about Max and how 4 A.S.D Kids is helping Australian families pay for the therapy and education to ensure the Children have the best possible chance at fulfilling their potential. The honest and raw emotion from Chloe as she spoke was admirable and had the whole room tearing up. “Your heart breaks for the kids and bleeds for the families” Chloe said when talking about the strain families can endure when the children are first diagnosed due to the fear of the unknown and then the financial hardship that can ensue due to the therapies costing easily up to $50,000 a year. “You only get $12,000 worth of assistance from the government over a two year period and that doesn't even touch the sides”. Mat and Chloe were able to help 4 Children last year and were hoping to surpass last years fundraising efforts so they can help even more families this year.

We were also treated to a lovely fashion showcase with JettRoc children’s wear by local designer Deb Tranter, 2 Chillies Swimwear, Gowns of Elegance, Intimate Secrets and Lisa Brown. 

Overall the whole weekend was a success and Mat and Chloe managed to raise over $200,000 which will help even more children this year! Check out the video below to see the families that were sponsored by 4 A.S.D Kids last year. Beautifully touching stories. 

4 ASD Kids 2010 Sponsorships from 4 ASD Kids on Vimeo.

For more information on Autism go to

http://www.4asdkids.com/Resources.aspx

To make a donation visit

http://www.4asdkids.com

Photos courtesy of Limetree Events

"If you wish to experience peace, give peace to another" - Dalai Lama

Stay fabulous! 

x

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