Tiara King's Blog: Jewel Divas Style, page 65

HEALTH & BEAUTY STYLE: My weight loss journey is so sadly lacking right now!

This time last year I told you all about the new exercise bike I’d bought from Kmart to try and combat my expanding girth.

Well, I went at it and lost 4 kilos in two weeks. It took me another four weeks to lose another 2 kilos and slowly I lost another 3 kilos after that. 

Sadly, I also gained 4 of those kilos back and have stabilised since at 90 kilos, or roughly 14 stone.

I had started Zumba in Feb of this year and stopped in late April when daylight savings started as I was doing three hours of Zumba in the afternoons. Even after doing that three days a week I did not lose weight. But I didn’t gain either.

So, after trying not to eat too much junk through winter I’m back to exercising on the bike as of two days ago. The poor bike went through the wars in the 9 months I used it. It lost its pedal straps because they split, and the speedometer broke off. But even with broken bits I can still use it and plan on starting again. 

I’ll see how much weight I lose this time, hopefully I’ll get down, but considering I’m sedentary due to having to sit to write and create it’s hard to work standing up. 

How have you guys kept your weight down over winter? Have you kept your weight down, gained or lost? It’s bloody hard when it’s so cold and there’s so much good, hearty food around.

MY STYLE: Peacocks and animal print

OUTFIT
TOP: Millers, $10.50, current
SHOES: Kmart, $7, last week.
JEWELS: Diva earrings, Lovisa bracelets (right hand), ebay rings and bracelet (left hand)

FASHION STYLE: The Kaftan King has some new kaftans

This post is about the amazing knee and calf length kaftans I’ve found for summer. You know I’m a sucker for rainbows and I’ve spoken many times about wanting gorgeous bright clothes, well these kaftans definitely fit the bill.

Easy to throw on over underwear or swimwear, to wear to a party or simply lounging by the pool, kaftans are an amazing alternative to the normal summer casual clothes of tanks and shorts.

And these have all come from eBay, are on the pricier side but still within a budget for most. I always try and get the owner to reduce them a bit if I buy in bulk, which I do. 

The next three gorgeous kaftans were all $115 each from the same seller. Because I bought them together I got them reduced. The colours are amazingly glorious and I’m so glad I got them. They come to below the knee which is great if I don’t want to wear shorts or a slip dress underneath.

The next two are even more stunning, especially the rainbow on the right. Ugh, I just cannot express the the stunning colours in all their glory in words. They were $106 each from the same seller as above as I’ve bought many from this seller.

Due to their rainbow looks I even have a summer hat to match and go with. These are amazing pieces that I would be happy to take on holiday to Mykonos or Santorini any time.

And, due to my love of colourful birds, I happen to have this amazing embroidered overnight bag that I bought a few years back. This makes two parrot kaftans in different colour schemes and lengths, the first being just a couple of weeks ago, plus a jewellery set I’ll show you all in the coming weeks that matches my parrot kaftans perfectly.

How’s your kaftan hunting going? Scored yourselves some nice bargains?

TODAY’S LIFESTYLE: RSL Art Union 2015 Golden Treasure

The RSL Art Union has revealed the Golden Treasure for the year.

An apartment building with four apartments and a mega penthouse with awesome ocean views. A pool, underground car park and only a mere few metres from the beach. It has a very Greek Island feel to it with the whites, blues and greens.

Tickets are available now and you can also check out the video and virtual tour at RSL Art union.

MY STYLE: Walk Like an Egyptian

OUTFIT
TOP: Ebay, for $30, originally from a chain store called Autograph in 2014. I only saw it twice last year and wanted it, but $40 was a bit too much then and I waited for it to be reduced. Of course what happens then is that they sell out and I don’t get one. I’ve scoured eBay this year to find one and did. It needs taking in, as many of my tops do, and looks like I’ll be doing some sewing over my summer break.
PANTS: Millers, $18, from 2014
SANDALS: Spendless Shoes, $30, from 2014
JEWELLERY: Jewel Divas Egyptian set (neck, ear, all bracelets, charm ring), Lovisa (other rings)

COUTURE STYLE: Coral Reef

The latest edition to the Jewel Divas Couture collection is Coral Reef.

I can’t entirely remember how it came about, I remember finding these gorgeous aqua and blue necklaces online and thinking, that would make a great couture piece. I tracked down some coral necklaces to use and waited while it all came in.

I started piecing it together as each lot came, the big wood necklaces first, then the antique silver coral necklaces. The seed bead necklaces and finally the seed bead aqua choker and then the silver coral necklaces that came three months after buying them.

All together it only cost me $33.35 to make.

HEALTH & BEAUTY STYLE: I bought myself a Bamboo Pillow and it’s awesome!

The Bambillo Pillow has become a bit of a phenom here in Aus with advertorials running constantly on tv about how you can drop a bowling ball onto the pillow and not break the egg underneath. You can see that at 5:40.

Click here to view the embedded video.

With my back issues I was fast losing sleep with the two pillows I did have and was after one for my birthday back in May. I finally found a bamboo alternative in Danoz and immediately had a problem.

I ripped the bag trying to get it out! lol. Overall, not a problem as I’m keeping it.

It was so tightly rolled it’s like it had been vacuum sealed and was a flat as a pancake.

The guy at Danoz told me it would take about 8 hours to plump up. The good thing, it came with a pillow case but I do have one big enough to go on as well.

The bad thing, it was still flat at the 8 hour mark. All in all I left it a full week. To not only plump up to the fullest it would go but to air it out after being packed away.

Due to my sciatica and other back issues I mentioned a few weeks ago, I’ve always had bad support when it comes to pillows, but this one is quite awesome. It contains shredded memory foam (so I’m not sure which part is related to Bamboo) and all you do each morning, or night before getting into bed, is give it a good plump up and then I karate chop it in the middle as I lay on my back when I first get in.

The ditch I make allows my head to nestle into the valley of foam and is supported on both sides. Once I roll onto my back the foam has hardened on the sides to give me the height I need to keep my head up so my back is not straining from my head dropping down. I have rarely had muscle strain or back pain since using this pillow, and usually when getting a new pillow for the first time I am in mass amounts of pain. Not this time. I highly recommend a bamboo pillow for people with neck/back issues.

This pillow is awesome, even though it’s an alternative to the Bambillo, and I hope it lasts for a good many years. 

MY STYLE: Golden Star Signs

OUTFIT


GOLD TOP: Kmart, $7, current
TANK TOP: Kmart, $20, from 2014. I don’t normally wear tanks over long tops but I hadn’t worn the tank before so thought, it’s cold, why not.
JACKET: Op shop, $10.25 from 2014
JEWELLERY: Jewel Divas Star Sign bracelet stack and necklace (not worn before), chain store everything else.

 

 

 

MY PERSONAL COLLECTION: My latest Winter Clothing Bargains

Thanks to buying mostly kaftans this year I have bought very few pieces of winter clothing. Now while I do need a few more long sleeved tops to wear, I haven’t been able to find many. Here are the bargains I have bought.

Both of these striped glitter tops are from Kmart, on sale for $7 each. They’re see-through so a tank underneath is essential.

I found this fluffy pink letterman hoodie jacket in a discount chain called Cheap As Chips for $20.  They had other colours but no turquoise, so pink was it.

I bought this gorgeous multi coloured wrap on eBay for $48.98. I love the colours, the pattern, the length, it’s perfect and so in season at the moment.

Now I did vow to NOT buy black tops this year UNLESS they were embellished. The peacock one came from Millers, as usual, and was on sale for $10.50. I love the fact that I already have jewellery sets to go with these tops as it means I don’t have to make them as I’ve been doing this year.

The Egyptian top came from eBay last month, but it originally came from a chain store called Autograph. Generally for bigger girls it’s an 18 but too big, so I’ll be taking it in. I had seen these last year but was unable to get one. The print may be gold but I think my multi Egyptian set will be fine with it.

God I love finding bargains. The good thing about buying most of your clothes on the cheap is that it means you can put a bit more money into higher priced articles you want, like Dr Martens boots or Camilla kaftans in my case. 

TODAY’S LIFESTYLE: My mother finally got herself a new car!!!!

Which may seem like nothing, but considering I’m her carer and I’ve been on at her for more than five years about updating the car so she was able to get in and out easier, not to mention it would be better for me to get in and out and then to get her in and out, she just never listened.

The Camry that’s in the yard is 25 years old and we’ve had it for 15, so it was already 10 when we bought it. The Suzuki Grand Vitara Navigator is 2015, brand new and off the boat the day we bought it.

It has everything you could want, we particularly need decent seats for our back issues, lots of high head room, leg room and drink holders. All of which we got plus more. 

She bought it on a Thursday, got window tinting and stuff done over the weekend and then we got it the following Tuesday. However, we didn’t drive it for over a week because it took until the following Monday for her to bother ringing up and getting insurance. My mother is incredibly slow in making decisions and constantly needs to be pushed. But then of course I get the “stop telling me what to do” and “you’re not my mother, stop trying to control me”. Which I am so fed up with. She can’t make decisions so I get blamed.

Anyway, as of this blog post we’ve only been in it a few times and we got it in early July. Bloody hell! Not sure what we’re doing with the old car, that rego runs out in Sep so she needs to make up her mind.