Little Miss Moi

Life in Timor-Leste

Category Archives: Style


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I’m back


It’s been a long month or so without a computer. My previous computer has been ailing for a while, so it wasn’t much fun to use anyway, but now I have a new computer (early birthday present) and it’s a MacBook. Yay! It’s a lot lighter than our previous computer so I find myself sitting in front of the television with the computer on my lap to blog. Hm if telly and blogging can be done simultaneously, I may indeed do it a little more frequently.

This post has no purpose other than to declare my state of continuing existence. But on a different note, above is a picture of little Harrie taken last week on her 6 month birthday. Oh my, how six months has flown. I’ll be back at work before I know it.


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Darwin is a small town

The other day I decided to pop into one of my favourite boutiques here in Darwin – Viva La Body. I was on a bit of a smash and grab mission to pick up a birthday present for a friend, but alas when I arrived the door was locked. I figured the shop assistant must have popped off to the loo, so popped myself off to the Post Office and popped into Viva La Body on the way back.

Yep, that’s a lot of popping!

The store was open on the way back and as I was browing around, the assistant and I had a casual conversation – just the usual Darwin fodder: strange how it’s not wet yet, isn’t it hot though, town is SO quiet with no tourists in town. Etc etc ad infinitum.

I made my choice of present (some lovely resin bracelets – Darwinites must check them out!) and took them to the counter. As I was unloading my lovely new Botaniska tote / satchel from Kikki.K (now discontinued so purchased on special), the shop assistant commented, “You’re not from around here?”

Thinking this was a reference to the fact that one isn’t truly regarded as a Territorian unless they have lived here for 20 years, I said, “Oh, no, I’m not from the Territory, I have only been here for almost three years.”

(Note, there was no sarcasm in my voice when I made that statement).

“Oh,” she said.”Well, you’ve definitely been shopping somewhere outside of Darwin lately!”

“Oh,” I said. I was a little puzzled, wondering how she could tell…

“Yes, you didn’t buy that purse here. Or your bag!” she said.

Ah ha!

“No I didn’t,” I said. “I bought the bag in Brisbane and my purse online.”

“Ah,” she said. “I don’t know what I would do in Darwin without online shopping.”

Neither do I, nice lady. Neither do I.

All in all, a very strange but not unpleasant conversation.


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New year, better version of me

Glamming it up on a coffee date

Well it’s been a while now since I had my little rant/tanty (ranty?) about how being a mum makes me feel like I’ve been ‘put on the shelf’ so to speak.

Let’s recap shall we? Back in November, I made a few ‘I feel’ statements (some corporate HR gurus would be proud of me there!). Along the lines of: I feel old. I feel tied down. I feel ugly. I feel unglamourous. I feel bored and boring.

So what have I done to make myself feel a little better about myself?

  • I bought some new clothes. They aren’t fabulous by any means; in fact they are mostly from Target. But they are new, they are rip-offs of on trend clothes, they are comfortable and I like them.
  • I put away my maternity clothes and pulled out my old clothes. I still can’t wear many of my dresses because I’m breastfeeding, but they are in the wardrobe to remind me that they are there, and it won’t be long ’til they’re back in rotation.
  • I wear earrings everyday. There’s nothing better to jazz up some bad hair than a pair of earrings. If I don’t have a pair of big dangly earrings on, I feel like I’m walking around in my underwear.
  • I love my new glasses. Once again, bad hair and no makeup can be disguised by my big specs. People notice the specs, not my worn out face. Now the wet season is here and it’s overcast often, I’m wearing them a lot.
  • I bought some cheap accessories to match my new clothes. Hello Diva! I actually shopped instore – but when I googled Diva to provide that link, I found out you can shop online. Oh dear! Bad news!
  • I got a haircut. I finally got rid of the mop when I was in Brisbane. Thanks to Christmas holidays, I got some babysitting time and used that time to get my hair chopped.
  • I wear things that smell nice. Mr Moi bought me a goodie bag/box of Aesop stuff. And living in the tropics makes things go off in half the time, so I use something nice every day, thank you very much.
  • I have become a little houseproud. Keeping the main parts of our place neat and tidy helps me feel a little less out of control. I have purged a little, and tuck mess away behind closed doors, and I’m quite comfortable with that.
  • I surround myself with pretty little things. I’m a stationery addict, so have stocked up on things from Kikki.K and Typo in my recent travels down south. Obvs this was before Typo got itself into a lot of bad books with some of their silly designs.

And last but not least, I try, at least once a week, to take part in Andrea from @FoxInFlats weekly style dare. It’s a fun way to think about how I look and try something I wouldn’t usually try. This week it’s red nail polish – and I NEVER wear nail polish. Thanks to Andrea for pulling me out of my fashion rut every now and then!

The next step to feeling good, for me, will be all about using my brain more… so I’ll have to get thinking!


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Shopping. It is evil.

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When we moved to the tropics in 2009 from a wintery Ukraine, I lamented the fact that I wouldn’t be able to dress the Sproglette in cute little winter outfits. You see, Darwin, being in close proximity to the equator and on the edge of a desert, is basically never cold. This year, there was one night that got down to 13 degrees and by God, the locals are still talking about it. It was the Coldest. Dry Season. EVER. Still got up to 33 degrees during the day though – hardly cold.

However, I did optimistically think that my wallet would be a little heavier because I wouldn’t be tempted to purchase so many clothes. I mean, when a kid can only wear one layer of clothing, every day of the year – how many clothes is it is actually possible to buy?

Well… Let’s just say that’s a rhetorical question.

The Sproglette currently has about 35 dresses hanging in her wardrobe. Most of these are on a high rotation. In fact, to ensure she gets good use out of all her clothes, I let her wear pretty much anything to daycare – there’s no use buying something and then never wearing it, is there?

Let’s also just say that I love Target. I would probably marry Target if I could. I would certainly move into a Target store given the opportunity.

The only Target store in Darwin is actually not in Darwin, it’s in Palmerston – which is about a half hour drive away, give or take. So going out to Target is actually quite an occasion, and when I go out there, I buy up big. For the kids, as well as myself.

(Side note – I never EVER thought I would wear Target clothes. In fact, I was such a boutique clothes snob, until I moved to Ukraine where I put on 15 kgs to protect me from the bitter cold winter, and thus lost all interest in fashion, in a country where fashion = leopard print, faux fur and bedazzler jeans. Enough said. When I moved to the Territory, my Eastern European wardrobe was grossly unsuited to the weather here, and the only clothes that fit me and looked OK were Target clothes. So my wardrobe is full of the stuff).

The scary thing is, Target is as close as we get to a classy department store in Darwin – there is no David Jones or Myer in the Northern Territory, boo hoo, sob sob. (Yay! says Mr Moi).

To supplement the Target racks in Frankie’s wardrobe, we’ve sent ourselves and our family members on shopping trips in various reaches of the globe. I have a couple of favourite stores for kids clothes – Zara, Mothercare and H&M – and have managed to keep stocked up on these goodies from UK, Portugal, Japan (hello Hello Kitty!) and Singapore.

The one realm that I haven’t officially entered is online shopping. It’s just far too dangerous for me. I have purchased the occasional goodie from the discount sites like Ozsale, but that’s just about it.

The most dangerous news I received in the past week was my fellow Tweeter @Gab_L_D making me aware of the fact I can now buy Cotton On Kids online.

Ah girls… so much fun to shop for!


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The Hair Do: After

To read about my hair before, click here.

So my new stylist was fantastic. He nailed the shape I wanted and thinned the bejesus out of my hair. I actually think that my head lost a kilo in the cutting process. I’m not a skinny minny, but I do short hair. Even if I look slightly constipated in this photograph.

Of course, Murphy’s law has it that I can’t get a good photo of myself with the short hair, which is really frustrating. I hate every photo of myself, but I cope. Regardless, no matter what I did, I couldn’t shoot a decent short hair pic. I just kept seeing how big my hips look and how fatty preggo I am looking.

(Self esteem issues anyone?)

But I am much happier with the haircut, which is encouraging me to wear a little makeup, pull out some old dresses (any that still fit my burgeoning belly) and my favourite earrings. And a reinvigorated sense of style can only be a good thing, right?

I’m glad the results weren’t too drastic – I did go to a hairdresser once and exited with less than an inch of hair all over. Mr Moi didn’t like that one. Just so long as I keep my eye on those scissors, I don’t think I’ll be in a situation like that again!

I don’t really have much else to say about my haircut. It’s self explanatory really!

What is the most drastic result you’ve ever received at your hair salon? Tell me all about it!

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