ROADTRIP TO MELBOURNE

I’m a huge fan of a roadtrip and luckily so is my Mister. This past weekend we headed to Melbourne for a flying visit, and by flying I mean ‘driving’ and less than 24 hours in the coolest of Aussie cities. Call me crazy but when I knew three Melbourne labels were coming together for a sale I had to be there…even if meant driving more than 750 kms each way.

We headed over to support my friend Kerry from Harlow who was having a mega sale and had joined forces with Sonsee and Miss Scarlett Did It, so how could I resist? Sure it might seem crazy to some to go such a long way for such a short amount of time but I say ‘you only life once so make the most if it’.

Road trips are for cool music, reminiscing and far too much food but we love them and I especially love the small town radio stations with their throwback tracks…I can’t believe that I can still remember all the words to tunes I was bopping along to more than 20 years ago!

For a quick visit we chose a fairly budget hotel, I don’t see the point in spending huge dollars on accommodation when the only time I will spend in the room is to sleep. The hotel was fine but the wake up alarm on Sunday was not welcome. More on that later.

After a quick trip to Harlow HQ to see Kerry and her hubby Angelo we headed into Brunswick for a good coffee which was desperately needed as coffee on the road sux. We picked up hot coffee and grabbed some sweet treats as the stores were all closing then sat in our car and had a little picnic of sorts. Holy moly we savoured every bite and the heady coffee aroma 🙂

Back to our room for a little nap (wink wink) and a freshen up then off to meet Kerry and Angelo at  Casa Ciuccio for some dinner. Several Spanish share plates, yummy sweet creme brûlée, coffee and hours of great conversation later we then headed down Gertrude St to take in the cold winter night and arty light displays of the ‘Projection Festival‘…all so pretty. Yes we stayed out til after midnight!

There’s nothing like an early morning wake up call bellowed into our room, informing us that an emergency alarm had been activated and they were investigating. Ummm ok, I leapt out of bed as the second announcement repeated the message. Shit! The huz flew out of bed and we both hurriedly dressed and packed as we awaited the next message. I was NOT going to get caught standing in the car park in my pyjamas so we got ready at lightening speed and headed downstairs to checkout.

Turns out it was all good and they forgot to make THAT announcement! If you ask me it was seriously the sneakiest way to get people out the door! Off to the sale, oh, did someone say SALE?

Uhuh, and the ladies loved it!! I got to chat with Vanessa from Sonsee plus size hosiery and asked her all about her ‘Shark Tank’ appearance and how things have changed since she is now working with Naomi Simson. I got the lowdown on why her tights were terrific…so naturally I ‘needed’ to purchase some 100 denier tights for ‘research’. Turns out the technology is superior but my hot tip is size down, I’m a 16-18 (more 18) so purchased the 14-16…stays up and are so comfy- no constricted sausage legs going on.

In between change room chats with the ladies (nothing like stripping to your smalls for bonding) I headed over to see Regina from Miss Scarlett Did It. The woman is a whizz with lingerie and we even headed into a change room where she adjusted my bra straps….sheer relief! If you are in Melbourne you gotta look her up and organise a fitting because what Regina doesn’t know about fitting lingerie isn’t worth knowing. There’s some seriously beautiful pieces in her range and the quality is also superb. I purchased some leopard print knickers (as you do) and Regina sent me a couple of wire free bras to test…stay tuned. You can also check her range out online.

It wouldn’t be a successful shopping trip without a few purchases from Harlow right? I had to reign it in at five pieces, which came in at $150…. made the mister happy too. Seriously, five Aussie designed and made, limited edition pieces of clothing for the bargain price of $150…that’s crazy! A lace shirt, black tee, shimmer skirt, pleather/ponte skirt and wet look blouse…totally winning! I’ve trotted a few pieces out over the last week already. I know we can’t all trip to Melbourne so Kerry from Harlow has some surprises for you all online…go check, pretty sure SALE and DISCOUNT are what you will find. Thank me later!

Goodbyes done we hit the road for the long haul home, lucky the sunset was so beautiful! I was a crap co driver on the way home, a big truck shouted at me with his horn which freaked me out. I was a ball of nerves and a teeny bit sleepy  and ended up only driving a couple of hours and spending the rest of the trip in the passenger seat. Big hi five to my Mister for supporting my ‘road trip on a whim weekend’, he’s such a freaking keeper!

Have you ever done a super fast long distance roadtrip?

What’s your favourite thing to do in Melbourne?

Til next time,

Jen x