Creepy crawlies!

Something people don’t know about me is that I’m quite the green thumb and I have a veggie garden. It’s kind of a big deal, I know. I’m practically Don Burke and close to getting my own TV show in Japan. I grow carrots, celery, bok choi, onions and garlic. I also have a feijoa tree...I don’t actually know what a feijoa is but one day this tree will grow some form of fruit and I shall eat its offspring. I also grow my own herbs, have a crappy lemon tree that grows no lemons and I steal mandarins from my neighbour's tree that grows through our tennis court fence.

A few weeks ago I had my first harvest which yielded an abundance of delicious carrots and celery! Sure the carrots were bent and half the size of normal carrots but it was as though they were my children and you’re not supposed to hate your children if they’re ugly. What I didn’t realise is that I had disturbed the giant orgy of some very randy earwigs. I had cockblocked another species. I only realised this when I was proudly carrying my produce into the house and I felt something crawl on me only to look down to see a massive earwig crawling on my hand. As a normal reaction to this, I screamed like a little girl while throwing the vegetables in the air and shaking every part of my body to remove any possible bugs that had clung to me.

So there I was, flipping a bitch in my living room surrounded by vegetables, dirt and literally hundreds of bugs. I shit you not, they were everywhere. You know when you’ve had a bug on you and you get that feeling when it’s like they’re still crawling on you after you’ve gotten rid of them? Imagine that while being surrounded by bugs. It’s pretty easy to feel like they’re crawling all over you when you can see them scuttering around your living room. I believe the medical term for this sensation is formication. It can even lead to delusional parasitosis, which is when a person becomes convinced that this sensation is being caused by actual insects crawling all over them. Creepy much?! I had that recently after I was woken up in the middle of the night by a moth on steroids. I screamed and made my mum kill it while I hysterically jumped around my room in order to avoid it.

To make matters worse in the incident of the evil earwigs, I was the only one in the house so I had to deal with the problem myself! Shiver me timbers! It took me about half an hour, a lot of stamping and a lot of shaking of the celery to get rid of all these pests. Mum didn’t particularly enjoy the clean up-my contribution to the household was food hence excusing me from cleaning up. I don’t think I even ended up eating those veggies.

Barbara lives in Bank world

Last weekend, I became a mother. No the baby wasn’t human but I swear it was just as hard as having a real baby. My friend Tegan was going to a wedding with her family so for some reason she trusted me with her tiny kitten for the night. The thing I like the most about this kitten is that her name is Barbara. She was named after Barbara from bank world because they’re both rangas. So Barbara and I were to spend the night together. I clearly didn’t know what I had signed up for.

I figured since I’d somehow managed to bring up my cat just fine, this cat should be a breeze. Admittedly, she did use her little tray like a clever little cat unlike my cat who used to use my bed as a toilet. No joke, I once came home from not being there for a few days to find my cat had left me a gift of 5 piles of poop and 9 little puddles on my bed. Thanks Kitty. Bitch.

Barbara was a little more cunning than this. She had a very odd routine where she would sleep for two hours then play for two hours. In the beginning this was very cute because she’d snuggle up on my chest while I was watching tv then play with my shoelaces for a bit. She also ate every hour. Unfortunately, this routine didn’t change when I went to bed.

Off to bed went Barbara and I after a long six hours of watching TV. She had a little play in my room and then it was off to sleep....for an hour. Barbara starts crying. Why is Barbara crying? Barbara’s hungry. Barbara must be fed. So I get up begrudgingly, feed Barbara and go back to sleep...for two hours. Barbara begins to bite my face. But why? She’s had enough sleep and now wants to play.”But Barbara, it’s 3am, mummy needs sleep!” I plead, but there is no rest for the wicked. I think that’s why God made babies cute, so when they annoy the crap out of us we can’t hate them and throw them out the window.

Also awkward, my cat tried to kill her. Barbara, being the little darling she is, went to introduce herself to Kitty while Kitty was having dinner. From what I understood in cat language, their conversation went like this:

Barbara: Harro, I’m Barbara

Kitty: Wanna get cut bitch?

Luckily, I swooped in to rescue Barbara before she was eaten. It’s so weird how after you see a kitten and then you see an adult cat, the big cat is immediately uglier and less cute than it was before. My cat is still ugly and obese to me, even a week after Barbara left. She’s dead to me....ok a little harsh.

This entire experience made me realise I am not having babies for a very long time. Getting woken up every two hours is NOT enjoyable, no matter how cute the baby is. So use protection!

Just for your entertainment, this is me getting fed ice cream while my cat tries to eat it. Yep, pointless video.

Horsing around

They call it “the race that stops a nation”. Nice choice Betting Association Australia. I almost missed that particular race and I was there! Let’s be frank, not a lot of people go to the races to watch the horses. Sure some people place bets (and lose) so they have to watch the horses but the majority of people go there to dress up, drink too much and stagger home when the day is over. I pretty much just went so I could look pretty while standing around drinking champagne and eating canapés. This plan didn’t quite work out.


My dream racing day would have begun with me looking dazzling in a dress I’d picked out months ago with a fabulous head piece and comfortable shoes. For one, I didn’t have an outfit until two days before cup day and I only figured it out after designer Pamela Usanto gave me one of her beautiful skirts as a gift. The day before the races I still didn’t have a headpiece so my mum found me one in a random box at her work and I generally do not own any comfortable heels (come to think of it, do comfortable heels exist???).

Another essential thing you need for the races is good weather but in Melbourne it is literally impossible to come by. I’m just thanking my lucky stars I wasn’t one of the poor sods on Derby day who had to trudge through the torrential rains with muddy heels and a see through dress (how convenient the dress code is black and white, clearly God’s a pervert and was craving a wet t-shirt comp). I had to promote for Tom Waterhouse online betting for four hours that morning at Southern Cross station and apart from the hectic blisters I got, I had a ball checking out people’s interesting choice of clothing but nothing would prepare me for what I saw on cup day.

Willy Wonka. What was this woman thinking??? I just don’t understand why some people decide to dress like this. I don’t think she’ll be picking up too many guys in that ensemble. I also saw numerous pairs of gum boots and fishnet stockings. I’m one of those girls who salivates at the thought of giving random strangers makeovers because it would make their life so much better and make things a lot less painful for my eyes. Seriously, look less fugly or stay inside.

The thing that you need the most at the races is good company and that’s why I love my friends. They all looked super amazing and have fantastic drinking and eating skills. They’re not that girl you spotted stumbling around taking swigs from a bottle of wine but the ones skulling their glasses or champagne with three sandwiches in their other hand. They’re not those girls whinging while carrying their heels in their hand, they’re the ones dancing and singing the national anthem at the top of their lungs in front of their marquee. Some of my favourite quotes from the day came from my little friend Brianna. My favourite was: “If you don’t skull that glass of champagne right now, you are no longer my friend”.

With the races comes the typical seedy old men who had one too many beers. The thing that disgusts me the most is the guys who try to hit on us are old enough to be our dads. I make a point to make them aware of this while asking if it bothers them that they’re paedophiles. That usually shuts them up. If that doesn’t work, I begin to call them dad while subtly running away. To seedy old men, Australia says no. Occasionally you will agree to be in a photo with them so they can go home and tell their other predator mates in Wagga about all the hot chicks they hung out with at the races. Is it really that hard to stick to their age group? Yes the women of that age are sagging in all the wrong places but at least they’ve finished going through puberty and got their first bra more than four years ago.

Did I also mention I am somewhat challenged at making bets? I literally have no idea how to do it, as I assume many other girls don’t. I don’t know the names of the horses, jockeys or anything about gambling. I went up to the window, handed over my $20 and said confidently “twenty on number nine thanks”. This was followed by the man asking me “which race? Place? First? Do you want to know the odds?” SHUTUP AND PUT MY BET ON BUDDY! YOU’RE MAKING ME LOOK LIKE A DICKHEAD! Dignity=lost.

To put it simply, I’m not really an experienced campaigner when it comes to the races but I make up for it in the effort I put in when trying to look like I know what I’m doing. Giddy up!

Made in Melbourne

Being in the fashion industry means I get the chance to work with a lot of amazingly talented people and be involved in some pretty awesome events. One that I have been lucky enough to be a part of is the Made in Melbourne event. This annual fashion event promotes and supports local designers who create and manufacture their collections in Melbourne. The event was created by Melbourne designer Katya Baxter, who also created the label Mina & Katusha in collaboration with Sarina Zammit. It is presented by LiPrice and has this year been held at The Trust in Melbourne's CBD. The venue has been transformed with fake grass, fountains and roses climbing up newly latticed walls. Their first show this year presented pieces from Mina & Katusha, Caro, Lisa Taranto, Marion Liese, Borsha, Silk & Ink and Neo Dia. They are definitely brands to watch out for in the coming seasons. In Made in Melbourne's latest show, the theme was Spring Racing, with the addition of beautiful head pieces by Melbourne milliners.
The show opened with designs from Mina & Katusha with head pieces by Gregoria millinery. Their third collection entitled ‘Amour’ is set for Summer with bright colours in beautiful feminin frills and flattering lines.

The second designer to show case their collection was Lady Petrova with Hopelessly Devoted millinery. Petrova Hammond is the brains behind the operation and is the cutest person I have ever met. She is a petit redhead oozing with this adorable, lovable character. I just wanted to hug her! Her collection was without a doubt her personality in the form of clothes- sweet, pretty and quirky. I had a little fashion dilemma backstage when the dress I was meant to wear (which was a stunning yellow and pink flowing dress) got completely tangled as four people tried to help me into it so I ended up wearing this adorable little number.

 

The third designer was Violet & I with Bianca Linklater millinery. Her designs were pretty, feminin and a bit sexy! I didn't model these myself but my beautiful friend Jessica Rose did a fabulous job. Their website has the most beautiful pictures as well.

 I was most impressed with the final designer Pamela Usanto who used JloveS millinery. I had never met her before but had seen her beautiful collection modelled by my friend Kaitlyn Ridge. Pamela is such a happy and lovely person and her designs were classy and simply stunning. I was lucky enough to wear her show stopping piece as well as to recieve one of her skirts as a gift, which I ended up wearing to the races. To get her amazing dress on was quite the struggle. I was convinced it was too small when the zip-less bodice wouldn't go past my thighs. With the help of three others and some squeezing, we finally got it on as well as the jaw dropping dress.

A runway show wouldn't be the same for me without wardrobe disasters and injuries so in true Emily form, I managed to have my already ugly feet covered in blisters from four hours of promo work for Tom Waterhouse that morning. Just keeping things classy!